"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.
Sir can you tell me how to get to Jerusalem
‘Cause I have kinda lost my way
Sir will you help me get there as fast as I can
Tomorrow might be too late
‘Cause things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
People always tellin' me how sweet and simple life could be
They say you might as well live before you die
[Chorus:]
But one thing I know for sure
I am a danger to myself, how come
Yeah one thing I know for sure
I need some guidance, to get me out of this hellhole
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem, yeah
It took me quite a while to get into Jerusalem
´Cause I had kinda lost my way
I want to save me from myself so here I am
I hope it's not too late
´Cause things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
I am so afraid to love
´Cause of the way I've been hurt before
I think by now it's time for me to leave
[Chorus]
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, can you help me find what I have lost
Things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
I don't want to die this way
Wishing that I could turn back time
Wasted time, there is work to be done
[Chorus]
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, can you help me find what I have lost, yeah yeah
Alright
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem
‘Cause I have kinda lost my way
Sir will you help me get there as fast as I can
Tomorrow might be too late
‘Cause things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
People always tellin' me how sweet and simple life could be
They say you might as well live before you die
[Chorus:]
But one thing I know for sure
I am a danger to myself, how come
Yeah one thing I know for sure
I need some guidance, to get me out of this hellhole
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem, yeah
It took me quite a while to get into Jerusalem
´Cause I had kinda lost my way
I want to save me from myself so here I am
I hope it's not too late
´Cause things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
I am so afraid to love
´Cause of the way I've been hurt before
I think by now it's time for me to leave
[Chorus]
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, can you help me find what I have lost
Things ain't what they used to be
My love for life is gone you see
Am I fighting things I cannot see
I don't want to die this way
Wishing that I could turn back time
Wasted time, there is work to be done
[Chorus]
Jerusalem, can you help me find my way back to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, can you help me find what I have lost, yeah yeah
Alright
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Lyrics submitted by queenofquiet23
Jerusalem Lyrics as written by Anouk Teeuwe Remon R Stotijn
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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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"
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,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I think her use of "Jerusalem" is a reference to what Jerusalem symbolizes in religion - a holy place, or "Promised Land"... A place which represents sanctuary, eternity, and life without sin. Perhaps the song is about seeking a "Jerusalem" for the mind and spirit, a place of contentment with oneself. The lyrics in the song sound to me like the thoughts of someone very discontent with themselves, very listless and almost depressed, lacking zest for life. Realizing this and wanting to get better, to find their own "Jerusalem", and become comfortable with who they are and accept their life, perhaps even learning to love life again.