"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.
Lillian lies to avoid awkward questions
Looks to the sky for intervention
But she can't avoid judgmental
Compassion
In the void
She puts on her face, makes it a brave one
Gets herself a seat on an interstate greyhound
When everything's gone at least you've got nothing
That holds on
She curls herself up, rests her head on the window
Sees her face in the trees suspended in limbo
When everything's gone at least you've got nothing
That holds on
You're a stranger in a country town
The kids all stare, the cars slow down
You didn't think you'd be so dumb
To just grab a hold of whatever came along
Houses slip by, the cloud are so low
The sky doesn't cover, it swallows
Looks to the sky for intervention
But she can't avoid judgmental
Compassion
In the void
She puts on her face, makes it a brave one
Gets herself a seat on an interstate greyhound
When everything's gone at least you've got nothing
That holds on
She curls herself up, rests her head on the window
Sees her face in the trees suspended in limbo
When everything's gone at least you've got nothing
That holds on
You're a stranger in a country town
The kids all stare, the cars slow down
You didn't think you'd be so dumb
To just grab a hold of whatever came along
Houses slip by, the cloud are so low
The sky doesn't cover, it swallows
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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.
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.
It's about being at a point in your life where you don't know where you're going and it's terrifying. Everyone lives it and tries to escape it, but being on trial and feeling insignificant will happen to everyone at one point or another. I love this song so much, me and my boyfriend listened to it so many times last year. I love the line "at least you've got nothing that holds on"...