"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.
Lonely,
Stubborn and complacent,
You have insisted
On leaving me here,
Writing the same song
I started last year.
Lovely
Conjunctions and phrases,
Plays on a few words,
That you never meant.
I must have misread
All of the signals that
You never sent.
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way.
Maybe I could still hold you,
Or you could call if you feel so inclined.
Please take your time
Locating whatever you're trying to find.
Maybe it's time to let go,
But I'm too scared
And so unprepared.
How do I forget,
Every moment in time that we shared?
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along this.
Bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way
I'm calling your bluff,
I have toyed with the idea of burning your stuff.
This is so rough,
And it's as if deserting me wasn't enough.
Well I've had enough,
I'm calling your bluff.
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along this.
Bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way
Stubborn and complacent,
You have insisted
On leaving me here,
Writing the same song
I started last year.
Lovely
Conjunctions and phrases,
Plays on a few words,
That you never meant.
I must have misread
All of the signals that
You never sent.
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way.
Maybe I could still hold you,
Or you could call if you feel so inclined.
Please take your time
Locating whatever you're trying to find.
Maybe it's time to let go,
But I'm too scared
And so unprepared.
How do I forget,
Every moment in time that we shared?
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along this.
Bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way
I'm calling your bluff,
I have toyed with the idea of burning your stuff.
This is so rough,
And it's as if deserting me wasn't enough.
Well I've had enough,
I'm calling your bluff.
It's a bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along this.
Bittersweet life,
And it's leaving me a-ok.
It's a bittersweet life,
I have loved and lost
My heart along the way
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Fast Car
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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.
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
I know that it is about a relationship, but it could also mean that the boy and girl were not boyfriend and girlfriend. They were just friends. This happens all the time that one is attracted to the other one, but the other person does not feel the same way. In this case, it would be the guy reading into too much what the girl was saying.
"Plays on a few words, that you never meant I must have misread all of the signals that you never sent" Then again, she could have been leading him on.
In the end though, he is calling her out for the awful things she has done too him.