"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.
She asked me to work on that knot
Now I've been at that
Coalface some time
I've been trying to untie that knot
I'm trying to work it to a soft spot
And lie there a while
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Now you'd think that I could
Untie that knot
I'm the one who put it there in
The first place
But it's like trying to remember
Where you've buried treasure
Well I've a vague idea
But it was under the pale moon light
And I was south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Sometimes early in the morning
I watch her breathing rise and fall
I've spilled in drunk beside her
In the stillness of dawn
See how her hair spills over
Like frayed ends of twine
All wild and wrapped around her
Like these wandering arms of mine
Well I hope they find a soft spot
Where I can lie for a while
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Now careful not to wake her
I trace back along the twine
To where her never endings sing
Of too much of my time
It's here I'll rest my chin
And breathe her deep and smile
For I think I've found a soft spot
And I'll lie here a while
It's here I'll raise my flag
And claim this land as mine
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Now I've been at that
Coalface some time
I've been trying to untie that knot
I'm trying to work it to a soft spot
And lie there a while
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Now you'd think that I could
Untie that knot
I'm the one who put it there in
The first place
But it's like trying to remember
Where you've buried treasure
Well I've a vague idea
But it was under the pale moon light
And I was south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Sometimes early in the morning
I watch her breathing rise and fall
I've spilled in drunk beside her
In the stillness of dawn
See how her hair spills over
Like frayed ends of twine
All wild and wrapped around her
Like these wandering arms of mine
Well I hope they find a soft spot
Where I can lie for a while
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
Now careful not to wake her
I trace back along the twine
To where her never endings sing
Of too much of my time
It's here I'll rest my chin
And breathe her deep and smile
For I think I've found a soft spot
And I'll lie here a while
It's here I'll raise my flag
And claim this land as mine
Just south of her shoulder
And west of her spine
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
I've always thought that the lines "Just south of her shoulder And west of her spine" refers to the heart. If you think of the body in terms of north, south, east and west, then south would be below the shoulder, and west would be to the left of the spine, so basically the location of a person's heart. I have no idea if this is right or not, just a thought.
its like try to remember where youve buried treasure, well ive a vague idea...
My first instinct is that it's about giving a lover a massage. The reference to locations on the back, and to knots.... It seems very straight-forward to me.
I got the impression that the song was about how one treats their lover. As in, he doesn't treat her right...he gives her knots...he knows this, but now he wants to take them out before she leaves.
"She asked me to work on that knot Now I've been at that coalface some time I've been trying to untie that knot"
That tells me that she asked him to work on something...behavior for example...now he is really trying hard to fix himself (or fix the knot that is bugging her) to make her happy.
I feel it's about taking away the stress he's caused before she cant handle it anymore.
Spot on i'd say!
South of her shoulder and west of her spine is her heart, and a the end...
"It's here I'll raise my flag and claim this land as mine Just south of her shoulder and west of her spine"
Its him claiming her heart! As in where people raise a flag to claim land.....
Cracking song!
I think she asked him to work on their relationship. Like, he's the one who initiated the relationship ("I'm the one who put it there in the first place"), and just wants to be in love with her ("I'm trying to work it to a soft spot and lie there a while"). But "south of her shoulder, and west of her spine" is definitely her heart.
"Well I've a vague idea, but it was under the pale moon light" makes me think that he can't remember exactly how they fell in love in the first place.