"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.
Last night I told a stranger all about you
They smiled patiently with disbelief
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried
And I know you did it all in spite of me
Still I'm proud to have know you for the short time that I did
Glad to have been a step up on your way
Proud to be part of your illustrious career
And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cold
For a long time I thought that you'd be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
They smiled patiently with disbelief
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried
And I know you did it all in spite of me
Still I'm proud to have know you for the short time that I did
Glad to have been a step up on your way
Proud to be part of your illustrious career
And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cold
For a long time I thought that you'd be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Anyone else think that he's referring to someone who became a TV or movie star?
"Late last night, I saw you in my living room" - where TV's normally are "You seemed so close but yet so cold" - On the TV but not actually there?
Just something I'd thought about.
yeah i think "in spite of me" is cynical, as if he's always been nothing but an obstacle to her.
I think that he left that girl, and she handled it badly. And she used all the pain, and anger to make it. So in a way, he thinks that those bad feelings, helped her achieve her life goals.
He probably thought she would take him back if he wanted it, but realized at some point that she has moved on.
Yeah, I took it in a similar way, as well. He may have shared an experience or words of wisdom with her that no other man ever did before, and only because he felt worthy for her at the time... only to get caught off-guard when she makes a big and randomly falls off the map after developing such a rapid relationship. This is a common theme for many artists, I imagine. The amount of crazy can drive so many faces away.<br /> <br /> Also gotta remember that the song was written in the late 80's (I think), so communication was horrendous compared to how information is accessed these days. This is constant food for thought and should be respected; maybe under modern-day circumstances this song would've never been created, but be grateful how easily you can track down and revisit memory lane with an old friend... even if you treat it as a breaching of "privacy."<br /> <br /> So badabing, a dent was left in the man's soul as classes divided the couple. Man appreciates the memories but feels sorrow upon revisiting them, aching to the thought of her never coming back like the poor mutt in Futurama.
I think they loved each other and he was supportive but she left him because she wasn’t strong enough to juggle her focused successful-career-oriented discipline with his drugs-depression-insomnia-fueled lifestyle, felt herself allowing herself to slip into his shadow (as all that childhood programming demands), and wasn’t willing to let her career become roadkill..
I think he’s moved on too… but sometimes, late at night, still thinks about how it could have been, and feels the layers of anger, guilt, resentment… it feels like shes doing it deliberately to hurt him (and its easier to forget, that way), but perhaps he ultimately knows shes not, and his final thought is to mock his own cynicism.
This is one of my all time favourite songs because it hits really close to home. I think the writer was in a relationship with a very ambitious, narcissistic and ungrateful woman. He poured all of his energy into her and helping her succeed in an attempt to earn recognition and love which she didn't give (enough).
When she started taking off and outgrowing what he could do for her, her eroded with his future value to her career. He hung on to her more and more desperately, which, because she was already emotionally leaving made her more and more angry and treat him worse and worse as she began to see him as a lead weight, until she just upgraded partners and gave her "love" to someone else that was much more valuable to the next level of career success.
She just discarded him. No recognition, or gratitude, or appreciation for how big a part he played in her history and current success and only remembers how angry he made her because he was too pathetic to just let go and fade away when she was done with him.
And as he's grieving and drinking alone and telling a stranger how pivotal a role he played in this person's career advancement, he's so broken and hollow that the stranger just smiles and pity's him in disbelief.
@christopherso Remember that he's a moderately successful musician himself so this could quite easily be written about/for someone real...a letter to express that he still loves her, how important their time together was to him, wouldn't change how much he put into her, and is pathetically not angry but just hurt and confused at how she has reduced him to the anger and fighting in the final days as she was struggling with leaving him to jump to the next level of success.
I think he wrote this song from his Dad's perspective talking about him. I don't think he was ever very close to his Dad, and his Dad didn't even really know how talented his son was until he was gone. I think he wrote it partly because he didn't feel supported by his Dad, and partly hoping that deep down his Dad was proud of him and just didn't know how to show his love very well.
Is this song meant to be cynical? What I mean is, do you think the narrator is bitter when he say "in spite of me"? Obviously, thats what it seems like, but the music is so wistful and melancholy... when I first heard it I didn't pick up on the bitterness because the song is so beautiful. In any case, I guess its about an ex that he wants back, but hes bitter because shes moved on and he can't yet.
Is this song meant to be cynical? What I mean is, do you think the narrator is bitter when he say "in spite of me"? Obviously, thats what it seems like, but the music is so wistful and melancholy... when I first heard it I didn't pick up on the bitterness because the song is so beautiful. In any case, I guess its about an ex that he wants back, but hes bitter because shes moved on and he can't yet.
If he's being cynical then why is the hope of this person returning a cruel thought? No, it isn't spite as in hatred, its "You became a success despite being involved with a deadbeat like me." From the first verse it sounds like a son or daughter, and he's drunk at a bar telling a stranger how proud he is.
"In spite of me" is ambiguous. It could mean "despite me" or "to spite me". Likewise, he could be genuine in saying that he is lucky to have known and helped this person, with greater talents than his, on their way to better things; or he could be sarcastic, like, yknow, "I'm SO proud to you used me as a step up in your ILLUSTRIOUS career".
F knows which meaning was intended. But I'd like to think he was subtle enough to intend both.