"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.
we landed in this place
tried to make this island more like home
but there are some things, better left behind
we came here on a plane, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dance around the fire, and we strike him down
never going home, not really
we'll take this island everywhere we go
we came here on a plane, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dance around the fire, then we strike it down
we'll burn the island down
kill the pig pig! kill the pig pig!
kill the pig pig!
we came here on a place, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dropped a boulder on his brain
you can never take it back, oh oh oh-oh
dance around the fire (i see the world in a foot of hills)
then we strike it down
we'll burn the island down
kill the pig pig
tried to make this island more like home
but there are some things, better left behind
we came here on a plane, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dance around the fire, and we strike him down
never going home, not really
we'll take this island everywhere we go
we came here on a plane, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dance around the fire, then we strike it down
we'll burn the island down
kill the pig pig! kill the pig pig!
kill the pig pig!
we came here on a place, just a bunch of little boys, oh oh oh
dropped a boulder on his brain
you can never take it back, oh oh oh-oh
dance around the fire (i see the world in a foot of hills)
then we strike it down
we'll burn the island down
kill the pig pig
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
obviously this song is about lord of the flies
in the OBVIOUS sense.
kill the big pig
so funny one of my favorite bands creates a song about one of my favorite books of all time
i discovered this song shortly after studying Lord Of The Flies for english, and yes, it DEFFINATELY is about LOTF. i didn't like any of the characters in the book though, maybe thats why i didn't get emotionally distressed like the rest of the class while reading it. I hated Piggy towards the end, Simon was an idiot, Jack was a monster, and what ever the protagonist was called, oh god... the whole group were bastards, but maybe that was the Author's inention... oh well, i feel like writing a song about To Kill A Mockingbird... that would be cool.
Another allusion to literature by the band.
indahousecat your bad
if you knew anything about anything...character represent fruedian parts of the mind (id, ego, super ego), and the only one who doesnt is simon who is a "christ" figure. lord of the flies is a rough translation of the latin and hebrew word for the devil...if u analyze all of those things and then see how the book unfolds it makes everything a lot better...
i havent read the novel yet, i had it because it was assigned in high school, but we never into it. sounds good and deep though
Amazing song, amazing book. When I first heard the song it reminded me of the Strokes, only to find the demo version on SATS called "Stroked."
this song def makes me shake it