"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.
No strangers in this town
No one moves without making a sound
You live and die within the borders and lines
No one dies without paying their fines
No lovers in this town
The moon's full but it sure ain't round
And just because you lie in his bed
Don't mean you meant the things you said
They marry young in these parts
They work the factories
So I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and the midnight woods
So nobody would sing some bible song over me
My cousin died in his sleep
Forty pills, two kids to keep
And how will she explain to those kids
About the sorry thing daddy did?
They marry young in these parts
They raise their kids and set them free
So I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and the midnight woods
So nobody would sing some bible song over me
They buried him out in the cold
He was only twenty-four years old
How his mother came undone
When the choir sang hallelujah
I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and and the midnight woods
I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and and the midnight woods
Hallelujah hallelujah -- ahhh
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah
No one moves without making a sound
You live and die within the borders and lines
No one dies without paying their fines
No lovers in this town
The moon's full but it sure ain't round
And just because you lie in his bed
Don't mean you meant the things you said
They marry young in these parts
They work the factories
So I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and the midnight woods
So nobody would sing some bible song over me
My cousin died in his sleep
Forty pills, two kids to keep
And how will she explain to those kids
About the sorry thing daddy did?
They marry young in these parts
They raise their kids and set them free
So I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and the midnight woods
So nobody would sing some bible song over me
They buried him out in the cold
He was only twenty-four years old
How his mother came undone
When the choir sang hallelujah
I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and and the midnight woods
I ran as fast as I could
Through the tall grass and and the midnight woods
Hallelujah hallelujah -- ahhh
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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@[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.
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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.
So. For me, this is the quintessential small-town song, where everybody knows everybody, and everything is a scandal.
The bit about the mother coming undone at the son's funeral always gives me chills.
This song is so beautiful yet heartbreaking. It reminds me of the small town in Michigan where my step-father grew up & where his family still lives. It's about wanting to get out & find something better so you don't end up spending your whole life in that town & dying there.
In my opinion this is Lori's best song. I can listen to it over and over again and i still get chills every single time.
I think when her cousin died and she attended the funeral, she realized she had to get out of there or she would have the same fate. She realized she couldn't flourish in that small town life either and she had to run away.
Does anyone have any insight as to why the song is called "The Bible Song"? It seems to be a significant piece of the song, considering the music slows when ever she mentions "so nobody would sing some bible song over me". It seems like the climax of the song? Maybe not.
"Bible Song" refers to a religious hymn that would be sung at a funeral; in this case, the songwriter's. She means she wants to move away so she doesn't die in that town - that is, with someone singing a hymn over her at her funeral.