"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
You rip my guts with every sharp word,
When you use that monster
Hiding underneath your tongue,
My words don't, they don't work on you,
No, they don't work like they used to.
â??Cause it's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh, seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; I just can't get through.
So far, the drinks have been so strong,
No writing on the post cards,
No memories to hang on.
Sleeping in my six o' clock shadow,
People judging people so shallow,
I call you up to see what you're doing,
To see if you won't
Send me your love, right through the ceiling,
I need your love, darlin' this evening!
Oh, moma, moma, moma, what can I do?
There's a jukebox baby,
And you can play our favorite song all night,
Until your money's gone,
Cause if I'm right about you darlin',
Then you're probably laying in bed,
And your temperature is boiling,
Cause your making things up in your head.
It's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; just can't get through,
So far, the days have been so long,
But, now I got my fade on,
Screaming at you at the top of my lungs!
Fog is lifting from the old man,
I had so much fun in the trash can,
I wave my flag, but you still send your troops in,
To the war in your soul.
Send me your love, right through the ceiling
I need your love, darlin' this evening!
Oh, moma, moma, moma, what can I do?
Backstage pass through these time zones,
Want you everyday, but I'm not home,
Can't really touch you through the cell phone,
There's so many things that you just don't know..
It's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh, seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; just can't get through.
So far, the drinks have been so strong,
Now there's writing on the post cards,
Baby, seven weeks is just too long!
When you use that monster
Hiding underneath your tongue,
My words don't, they don't work on you,
No, they don't work like they used to.
â??Cause it's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh, seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; I just can't get through.
So far, the drinks have been so strong,
No writing on the post cards,
No memories to hang on.
Sleeping in my six o' clock shadow,
People judging people so shallow,
I call you up to see what you're doing,
To see if you won't
Send me your love, right through the ceiling,
I need your love, darlin' this evening!
Oh, moma, moma, moma, what can I do?
There's a jukebox baby,
And you can play our favorite song all night,
Until your money's gone,
Cause if I'm right about you darlin',
Then you're probably laying in bed,
And your temperature is boiling,
Cause your making things up in your head.
It's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; just can't get through,
So far, the days have been so long,
But, now I got my fade on,
Screaming at you at the top of my lungs!
Fog is lifting from the old man,
I had so much fun in the trash can,
I wave my flag, but you still send your troops in,
To the war in your soul.
Send me your love, right through the ceiling
I need your love, darlin' this evening!
Oh, moma, moma, moma, what can I do?
Backstage pass through these time zones,
Want you everyday, but I'm not home,
Can't really touch you through the cell phone,
There's so many things that you just don't know..
It's been seven weeks, seven weeks,
Oh, oh, oh, seven weeks, since I called you,
When I try now; just can't get through.
So far, the drinks have been so strong,
Now there's writing on the post cards,
Baby, seven weeks is just too long!
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I just love the lyrics...pepper has such a unique way of explaining things...
@sk8erchic8778 9.9 years later and I'm just discovering this song (Thank God for Google Music). I wish I knew the backstory.... such a good song.<br />