"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.
Oh, come now father dear and turn this blood to choice
You know, I think these young are spent & have seen their day
My back bares the scars of work while my sweat has cut the cost
If my word to God isn't bond, then I'll be damned to say
This can't be so bad
Only I sure did love the way she danced
Oh these dirty games I play
Long-Arm, you liar
Go run home to mama
A good boy never gets to dance
These good boys never get a chance
You know, I think these young are spent & have seen their day
My back bares the scars of work while my sweat has cut the cost
If my word to God isn't bond, then I'll be damned to say
This can't be so bad
Only I sure did love the way she danced
Oh these dirty games I play
Long-Arm, you liar
Go run home to mama
A good boy never gets to dance
These good boys never get a chance
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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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”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Gentle Hour
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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I REALL love this song, it's probably my favourite on the album! I think the noises and stuff at the begining and in the middle and all that and the way the lyrics are some what distorted represents the bloody machine running (duh). So yeah, as has been stated, i think this is told from both points of veiws (both the brothers). Long-Arm i think finds Cecillia maybe, and the McCloud twins. He has watched Cecilia for a long time maybe, or maybe simply has feelings for her when he sees her. He considers taking her for the blood machine, but decides against it. Butchie Bleam discovers his brother's weak act and considers killing Long-Arm off ("go run to Mama", the brother's mother may be dead at this point, this would be Butchie damanding that he die). I think the first chorus is Long-Arm praying to his god that he may be aloud to spare Cecilia and simply take the two younger McClouds (" i think these young are spent and have seen their day")