"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.
This time you get the finger pointed right at you
Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
I asked you what side you wanted on
Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
A waste of time
Don't believe
Can't decide to
Hit the ground
Make your mind
It's holding me
Down
And always did
Down
And all we get
Down
This time you think it pointed right at you
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
I asked you what side did you point it at?
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
On?
Huh?
Why?
A waste of time
We don't believe
Can't decide till you've
Hit the ground
Thank you much
If you don't believe
Can't decide
Till you
Hit the ground
Make your mind
It's holding me
Down
I wanna get it
Down
And I wanna get it
Down
And I wanna get out
You don't think that I don't know
'Cause I do
Nice try
'Cause that's what you really got
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
That's something else
You say
You say you're something else
Decide
Whose side
You're on
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
C'mon
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
Decide one
Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
I asked you what side you wanted on
Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
A waste of time
Don't believe
Can't decide to
Hit the ground
Make your mind
It's holding me
Down
And always did
Down
And all we get
Down
This time you think it pointed right at you
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
I asked you what side did you point it at?
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
On?
Huh?
Why?
A waste of time
We don't believe
Can't decide till you've
Hit the ground
Thank you much
If you don't believe
Can't decide
Till you
Hit the ground
Make your mind
It's holding me
Down
I wanna get it
Down
And I wanna get it
Down
And I wanna get out
You don't think that I don't know
'Cause I do
Nice try
'Cause that's what you really got
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
That's something else
You say
You say you're something else
Decide
Whose side
You're on
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
C'mon
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
Whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?
Decide one
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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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Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
" You're a fake person" song. Decide what side you are on, decide for YOURSELF. "You can't decide until you've hit the ground" You can't decide until you need someone or until you NEED to choose. An uncertain person. A person without an opinion who is useless and who is wasting his time. I guess...