"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.
Locked in a struggle for the right combination of words in a melody line
I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination
Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine
But if I ever get back to the twentieth century
Guess I'll have to pay off some debts
Open the book of my vanishing memory
With its catalogue of regrets
Stand up for the deeds I did
And those I didn't do
Sit down, shut up, think about God
And wait for the hour of my rescue
We don't mean to mess things up
But mess them up we do
And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry"
Here's a smiling photograph of love it was new
At a birthday party
Make a wish and close your eyes: surprise, surprise, surprise.
Early December, and brown as a sparrow
Frost creeping over the pond
I shoot a thought into the future
And it flies like an arrow
Through my lifetime, and beyond
If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow
Or even the wind-blown dust
Find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed
Hurry on and remember me, as I'll remember you
Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates
The earth is blue
And everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination
Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine
But if I ever get back to the twentieth century
Guess I'll have to pay off some debts
Open the book of my vanishing memory
With its catalogue of regrets
Stand up for the deeds I did
And those I didn't do
Sit down, shut up, think about God
And wait for the hour of my rescue
We don't mean to mess things up
But mess them up we do
And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry"
Here's a smiling photograph of love it was new
At a birthday party
Make a wish and close your eyes: surprise, surprise, surprise.
Early December, and brown as a sparrow
Frost creeping over the pond
I shoot a thought into the future
And it flies like an arrow
Through my lifetime, and beyond
If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow
Or even the wind-blown dust
Find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed
Hurry on and remember me, as I'll remember you
Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates
The earth is blue
And everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
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Fast Car
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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”
Amazing
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Once I realized that the lyrics are fragmented over different times in the perspective of the singer, a picture emerged. The mood is very introspective; Simon (or his lyrical self) lets his mind wonder over situations in the past (general regrets and a feeling of humility about things gone wrong; a flashback to happier times with a new lover) and then in wintertime considers his future and the time after death which feels to be coming closer. The metaphysical lines of re-emerging in the sounds of wires or as a bird to connect to a loved one who then has to live on without him have always touched me most. I feel that it is here that the song transcends to the beyond and connects to „that what cannot be spoken about“. The song needs that state of mind to access the feeling of unity with the universe to state that actually all in life is and should be about love. Even after death.
The song is a masterpiece from a songwriter whose insight and craft have increased over the decades. Like other 21st century songs of his such as „Love and Hard Times“ or „The Riverbank“, this song uses these snapshots of memory and ties them to universal, larger issues of life and the human condition. I remain in awe of Paul Simon.