"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.
Up in the highest of heights, O'Hara blinks and fights
This land is yours, this land is mine
I see the captain in red and Cairo at his head
This land is yours, this land is mine
The lightning over the park, the waters, brash and dark
We take a swim, we take a swim
I never meant to escape the carpet and the trade
This land is yours, this land is mine
And when I make up my mind, I change it all the time
I take it back, I take it back
The numbers over the dam, Jo Davies and the band
I count them out, I count them out
There was a car in the bay, by the boat that swept and swayed
Whoever you are in the light, in the water that we made
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out
Inside, I'm counting it out from the floor
The ferry hatches Moline, Panola Beauty Queen
She takes a bow, she takes a bow
In Charles, we climb the hill and Danville window sill
I take it back, I take it back
My sister she counts the bars, the Macon county cars
She takes a bow, she takes a bow
The Mississippi amends, the Carver and the bends
This land is yours, this land is mine
My brother punches my ear, the injured ivory deer
I call my dad, I call my dad
We skip inside of the store, the Mason winter door
This land is yours, this land is mine
There was a car in the bay, by the boat that swept and swayed
Whoever you are in the light, in the water that we made
I'm holding your hand by the shore with our collars pulled up tight
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out inside
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out inside
I'm counting it out
This land is not your land, for the right hand
Takes what it can, ransacks with the mad man
For this land is not yours or mine to have
This land was made for the good of itself
This land is yours, this land is mine
I see the captain in red and Cairo at his head
This land is yours, this land is mine
The lightning over the park, the waters, brash and dark
We take a swim, we take a swim
I never meant to escape the carpet and the trade
This land is yours, this land is mine
And when I make up my mind, I change it all the time
I take it back, I take it back
The numbers over the dam, Jo Davies and the band
I count them out, I count them out
There was a car in the bay, by the boat that swept and swayed
Whoever you are in the light, in the water that we made
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out
Inside, I'm counting it out from the floor
The ferry hatches Moline, Panola Beauty Queen
She takes a bow, she takes a bow
In Charles, we climb the hill and Danville window sill
I take it back, I take it back
My sister she counts the bars, the Macon county cars
She takes a bow, she takes a bow
The Mississippi amends, the Carver and the bends
This land is yours, this land is mine
My brother punches my ear, the injured ivory deer
I call my dad, I call my dad
We skip inside of the store, the Mason winter door
This land is yours, this land is mine
There was a car in the bay, by the boat that swept and swayed
Whoever you are in the light, in the water that we made
I'm holding your hand by the shore with our collars pulled up tight
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out inside
I'm counting it out, I'm counting it out, I'm working it out inside
I'm counting it out
This land is not your land, for the right hand
Takes what it can, ransacks with the mad man
For this land is not yours or mine to have
This land was made for the good of itself
Lyrics submitted by musicforlife!
No Man's Land Lyrics as written by Sufjan Stevens
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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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.
Blue
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
The suggestion that Sufjan doesn't realize the time signature he's writing is really just silly. With his proficiency in odd time signatures (7/4 in "Dear Mr. Supercomputer", 5/4 in the first movement of "Come on, Feel the Illinoise", alternating 5/4:6/4 in "Tallest Man, Broadest Shoulders", 9/4 in "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head!", etc.), it's most certainly a stylistic device he employs with specific intent. I honestly doubt he just plays a riff on one of his instruments and "rolls with it", especially considering the cooperation of people other than himself.
Also, Dreamer, it's not hard to tell what time signature a song is in if you keep a good running beat in your head as you listen to it. Then you simply count the beats as they come. As for its significance... An unusual time signature, especially when it's part of a passage consisting mostly of common time, usually has an accentuating effect. In No Man's Land, the extra beat added by the 5/4 measure in each phrase is almost exclusively reserved for the flute run. This serves to set it off from the rest of the phrase and signify a transition to a new one.
@Czechnmymail Have you figured out the time sig on Concerning The UFO Sighting? Can\'t do that in your head. musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp