"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.
You spend your days counting the hours you're awake
And when night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same
It's a burden you've been burying in spite of all your prayers
As the light turns off inside your heart do you remember
What it's like to care
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe
Give me the drug, keep me alive, give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way
If you never meant to leave then you only had to stay
With the memories that haunt us, I cherish just the same
As the ones that bring us closer to the sky, no matter how grave
Yet I fall through these clouds and she's screaming
Give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
This grip loosens but it never breaks
We carry nothing but a name you will forsake
Your words are always there to break my fall
And now I find the comfort to see through it all
Guide me through uncharted waters
Before we lose our way again
Will you be my compass
Until forever, until forever ends
Knees are weak, hands are shaking
I can't breathe
Give me the drug,keep me alive
Give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go (Repeatx3)
And when night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same
It's a burden you've been burying in spite of all your prayers
As the light turns off inside your heart do you remember
What it's like to care
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe
Give me the drug, keep me alive, give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way
If you never meant to leave then you only had to stay
With the memories that haunt us, I cherish just the same
As the ones that bring us closer to the sky, no matter how grave
Yet I fall through these clouds and she's screaming
Give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
This grip loosens but it never breaks
We carry nothing but a name you will forsake
Your words are always there to break my fall
And now I find the comfort to see through it all
Guide me through uncharted waters
Before we lose our way again
Will you be my compass
Until forever, until forever ends
Knees are weak, hands are shaking
I can't breathe
Give me the drug,keep me alive
Give me whats left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go (Repeatx3)
Lyrics submitted by mouis, edited by Skoobasteve24
Injection Lyrics as written by Christopher Chasse Brandon Barnes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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/
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.
This is my first crack at this interpretation thing.
This song always struck me personally, being a person with abandonment issues, and then one day while somewhere in the midst of reading Tim 'O Brien's "The Things They Carried", I paused and realized how relevant it was.
"The Things They Carried" is a VERY open-ended story about the Vietnam war, (which was a civil war in vietnam that the US just HAD to get involved in). Many of those in the Vietnam war were drafted and did not agree with the war and in this particular story they were extremely young. Ages 18-22, for vietnam war survivors, it was one of the worst wars in American history emotionally and many young people came back forever changed and mentally altered for the worst.
Do you spend your days counting the hours your awake? And When night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same.
Not only was the war experience traumatizing but, when troops returned they were not supported in their endeavors, in fact many Americans chastised them. Called them "Murderers" and "Baby Killers" as they were forced to kill men, women, and children, soldiers and civilians alike. Which fits the lines
"As a burden you've been buried, in spite of all your prayers. As a light turns off inside your heart can you remember what it's like to care?"
as well as
"We carry nothing but a name you will forsake."
Many young soldiers turned to drugs as their escape from the things going on around them.
"The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way, if you never meant to leave then you only had to stay." serves as an allusion to wartime and how many friends were made and lost to the war. "but the memories that haunt us are cherished just the same as the ones that bring us close to the sky." Goes to say that even though they faced inconceivable hardships and the memories of it haunted them for the rest of their lives and times where they almost died (brought them closer to the sky), they were also cherished as a time they could never forget with people that became like family to them but in the end, no matter what, it wasn't enough...
"No matter how grey, yet I fall, through these clouds, reaching, screaming, GIVE ME THE DRUG!" ...it wasn't enough and they always turned back to drugs, to guide them through the war, to find their way back home with as much sanity as humanly possible.
I know the vietnam war is extremely specific and was a long time ago, and this song could easily be about drug addiction in general but considering that Rise Against's M.O. is rising against oppression and often oppression involving US policies it kind of clicked and set in my mind as being about the Vietnam war. Not to mention the desperate tone of the song.