"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.
When you're out with your friends
In your new Mercedes-Benz
And you're on drugs
And you show up late for school
'Cause you think you're really cool
And you're on drugs
And you put on your headphones
And you step into the zone
And you're on drugs
But the world don't care
If you are or are not there
'Cause you're on drugs
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
And you twitch in your seat
'Cause you wanna hit the street
When you're on drugs
And you cause such a fuss
'Cause there's no one you can trust
When you're on drugs
And the best of your days
Will all vanish in the haze
When you're on drugs
And you wish you could quit
'Cause you're really sick of it
But you're on drugs
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
I want to reach a higher place
Where things will never be the same
Oh
[SOLO]
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(Woo)
In your new Mercedes-Benz
And you're on drugs
And you show up late for school
'Cause you think you're really cool
And you're on drugs
And you put on your headphones
And you step into the zone
And you're on drugs
But the world don't care
If you are or are not there
'Cause you're on drugs
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
And you twitch in your seat
'Cause you wanna hit the street
When you're on drugs
And you cause such a fuss
'Cause there's no one you can trust
When you're on drugs
And the best of your days
Will all vanish in the haze
When you're on drugs
And you wish you could quit
'Cause you're really sick of it
But you're on drugs
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
I want to reach a higher place
Where things will never be the same
Oh
[SOLO]
Give it to me
We are all on drugs
Yeah, never get enough
(Never get enough)
We are all on drugs
Yeah, give me some of that stuff
(Woo)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(We are all on drugs)
We are all on drugs
(Woo)
Lyrics submitted by Wrapid, edited by KasidyHardy
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I agree with GoD-Like that the song is neither pro- nor anti- drugs, and it is largely a shallow, simple song. However, I can't help but pick up on some possible (very subtle) deeper meaning...that being, a commentary on the medicalized society we live in.
In some way or another, almost everyone around you is on a drug, be it an illicit substance they've copped off the street or a prescription that doctors hastily write out because it is the least involved way to alleviate an ailment. The video for this song shows all different kinds of people, not just the stereotypical "drug addict"....we see a priest, construction worker, soccer mom, a child, etc. Maybe some of them are using illegal drugs, but maybe some of them are doped up on the medications that have their name on the bottle.
Presently, our society tends to deem certain drugs as unacceptable because the government controls a list of good and bad. But consider a heroin addict who seeks help/treatment: a doctor's initial reaction is to prescribe methadone or suboxone, which is essentially trading one drug for another. Or, we look down on the party girl who uses cocaine in night clubs, yet we give 7-year-old children amphetamines in the form of adderall and ritalin to treat ADHD.
So I'd like to think Weezer is hinting at the idea that drugs are everywhere, just not in the way most people think about when they hear the word. And even if that's not what they intended this song to be about, that's how I personally interpret it.