"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.
Well death may come invisible
Or in a holy wall of fire
In the breath between the markers
On a black I-80 mile
from the madness of the governments
To the vengeance of the sea
Yeah everything is eclipsed
By the shape of destiny
so love me now, hell is coming
Yeah kiss my mouth, hell is here
little soldier, little insect
You know war it has no heart
It will kill you in the sunshine
Or happily in the dark
where kindness is a card game
And a bent up cigarette
In the trenches, in the hard rain
With a bullet and a bet
he says help me out, yeah, hell is coming
Could you do it now? hell is here
see the sterile soil pours in the sky
Dirty water final scraps of light
Bring a new tear
so wake, baby, wake
But leave that blanket round you
There's nothing as safe
I'm leaving this place
There is nothing I'm planning to take
Just you, just you
Or in a holy wall of fire
In the breath between the markers
On a black I-80 mile
from the madness of the governments
To the vengeance of the sea
Yeah everything is eclipsed
By the shape of destiny
so love me now, hell is coming
Yeah kiss my mouth, hell is here
little soldier, little insect
You know war it has no heart
It will kill you in the sunshine
Or happily in the dark
where kindness is a card game
And a bent up cigarette
In the trenches, in the hard rain
With a bullet and a bet
he says help me out, yeah, hell is coming
Could you do it now? hell is here
see the sterile soil pours in the sky
Dirty water final scraps of light
Bring a new tear
so wake, baby, wake
But leave that blanket round you
There's nothing as safe
I'm leaving this place
There is nothing I'm planning to take
Just you, just you
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
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"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."
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
i hear this song and i just chills. can you imagine being these two people, with the apocalypse at your back and youre just trying to hold on to the last thing that you love.
scares the hell out of me.
brilliant.