"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.
I scream at you for sharing
I curse you just for caring
I hate the clothes you're wearing, they're so pretty
I tell you not to see me
I tell you not to feel me
I make your life a drag, it's such a pity
I watch your warm glow palin'
I watch your sparkle fadin'
As you realize you're failin' 'cause' you're so good
Oh, I don't mean to upset you
But there's so much crime to get through
If I could make it easier then I would
I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played houses with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while
It's no use me pretending
You give and I do the spending
Is there a happy ending, I don't think so
'Cause even if we make it
I'll be too far out to take it
You'll have to try and shake it from my head
I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played house with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while
I curse you just for caring
I hate the clothes you're wearing, they're so pretty
I tell you not to see me
I tell you not to feel me
I make your life a drag, it's such a pity
I watch your warm glow palin'
I watch your sparkle fadin'
As you realize you're failin' 'cause' you're so good
Oh, I don't mean to upset you
But there's so much crime to get through
If I could make it easier then I would
I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played houses with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while
It's no use me pretending
You give and I do the spending
Is there a happy ending, I don't think so
'Cause even if we make it
I'll be too far out to take it
You'll have to try and shake it from my head
I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played house with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
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.
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.
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.
I am very surprised nobody has commented on this amazing song. I knew the Dramarama version long before I realized it was a Mott the Hoople song. I love the fucking depressing lyrics mixed with the upbeat tempo and major key. I think it's about a failing relationship, the singer positing that everything that's wrong with this couple is his fault because he's damaged goods. He wishes he could understand her, but that would basically require having grown up in her family. I like to dance around and sing along to this song, particularly a live Wilco version I found online.