"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.
A girl saw a little rose
It bloomed there in bright heights
She asked her sweetheart
if he could fetch it for her
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
The boy climbs the mountain in torment
He doesn't really care about the view
Only the little rose is on his mind
He brings it to his sweetheart
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
At his boots, a stone breaks
Doesn't want to be on the cliff anymore
And a scream lets everyone know
Both are falling to the ground
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
It bloomed there in bright heights
She asked her sweetheart
if he could fetch it for her
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
The boy climbs the mountain in torment
He doesn't really care about the view
Only the little rose is on his mind
He brings it to his sweetheart
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
At his boots, a stone breaks
Doesn't want to be on the cliff anymore
And a scream lets everyone know
Both are falling to the ground
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still
Lyrics submitted by simple design
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
If it adds any meaning to the whole thing, venturing high into the alps to fetch a flower for a lover was a very common thing in German tradition. Though it wasn't a rose, the flower they always went to retrieve was one called the Edelweiss, a beautiful white flower that grows only very high in the mountains. Prized for its rarity and the fact that even after being picked it holds its beautiful white color for years, many young men would dangerously venture high into the alps sometimes getting killed chasing this flower. Look it up, interesting part of German tradition. Hope this helped the whole thing make a little more sense.