"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.
let's hear it for circuits
lines drawn in the earth
cut to scramble for ramble
little mouse hole to park your new car
and chew off our arms
with teeth we are losing from slow, comfy screwings
three cheers for the backseats
your legs pin that look in your eye
you'll never take me alive
this is what you are
you are what you are
let's hear it for mirrors
with the ghost image clearer
hip hip for the pig that religiously belts you undone
this little piggy had none
'cause god hates our country
she told me she wants me to sing out "he's female!"
three cheers for the gal in the sky
you'll never take me alive
this is what you are
you are what you are
this is what you are
do you know what it means to be doomed?
do you know what it means to be cursed?
when the blue eyes are washing their mouths in the south
you know they're hiding bodies north
did you know that we're sinking knee-deep?
did you nail down what you plan to keep?
when the poltergeist pushes his freight on your shore
you are done for
done for
done for
the caskets are coughing with quotable quoting
the graveyard is littered with loves who thought there was no doubt
the world could not live without
this is what you are
you are what you are
this is what you are
if I live through the day when the comet does come
I will write everyone down my list one by one
sharpen the axe
stomp the flames out on backs
I will be who you want me to be
I will be who you want me to be
do you know what it means to be doomed?
do you know what it means to be cursed?
when the blue eyes are washing their mouths in the south
you know they're hiding bodies north
did you know that your boot hills are stuck?
losing feet worth the rabbit's good luck
when the devil is resting his head on your door
you are done for
done for
done for
you are done for
done for
done for
did you know that you nurse a beehive?
come and get it
come take me alive
all the nooses are in it; a grizzly frontier
we will show this cruel world
we will show this cruel world we were here
lines drawn in the earth
cut to scramble for ramble
little mouse hole to park your new car
and chew off our arms
with teeth we are losing from slow, comfy screwings
three cheers for the backseats
your legs pin that look in your eye
you'll never take me alive
this is what you are
you are what you are
let's hear it for mirrors
with the ghost image clearer
hip hip for the pig that religiously belts you undone
this little piggy had none
'cause god hates our country
she told me she wants me to sing out "he's female!"
three cheers for the gal in the sky
you'll never take me alive
this is what you are
you are what you are
this is what you are
do you know what it means to be doomed?
do you know what it means to be cursed?
when the blue eyes are washing their mouths in the south
you know they're hiding bodies north
did you know that we're sinking knee-deep?
did you nail down what you plan to keep?
when the poltergeist pushes his freight on your shore
you are done for
done for
done for
the caskets are coughing with quotable quoting
the graveyard is littered with loves who thought there was no doubt
the world could not live without
this is what you are
you are what you are
this is what you are
if I live through the day when the comet does come
I will write everyone down my list one by one
sharpen the axe
stomp the flames out on backs
I will be who you want me to be
I will be who you want me to be
do you know what it means to be doomed?
do you know what it means to be cursed?
when the blue eyes are washing their mouths in the south
you know they're hiding bodies north
did you know that your boot hills are stuck?
losing feet worth the rabbit's good luck
when the devil is resting his head on your door
you are done for
done for
done for
you are done for
done for
done for
did you know that you nurse a beehive?
come and get it
come take me alive
all the nooses are in it; a grizzly frontier
we will show this cruel world
we will show this cruel world we were here
Lyrics submitted by heartinasling, edited by r74
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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/
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.
How are their no comments on this song. This is the strongest song on this alum Fucking brilliant. I think it's just setting the mood of control through fear. This particular song seems to me to be right before everything falls apart. "Did you know that you nurse a beehive?"
Also, because he says throughout the song he says, "you'll never take me alive." Then, when the song gets to its end, after the build up, he yells "Come and get it, come take me alive."