"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.
Man stands blinded from the truth with his back up against the wall
Crowd watches in anticipation, they're wanting him to fall
And I wonder who made him God to say
That he could take a life away from them
Now I wonder who made them God to say
That they could take his life away from him
Another time, another situation
But the cost remains the same
People end their lives in frustration
Not willing to make a change
Now I wonder who took the life away
From living everyday from them
Oh I wonder who took the life away
From living every day from them
Give back my dreams to me
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
Teenage girl with scars on her wrists turns away not to cry
I wonder how someone so young could ever want to die
Now I feel like I'm turning my back away
To stop myself from going that way
Is it wrong?
Oh, I feel like I'm turning my back away
To stop myself from throwing away
Is it wrong?
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
Oh, I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
Oh, against the wall
(Woah woah woah woah oh yeah)
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up,
Wake up, wake up, yeah
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
Oh I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
Crowd watches in anticipation, they're wanting him to fall
And I wonder who made him God to say
That he could take a life away from them
Now I wonder who made them God to say
That they could take his life away from him
Another time, another situation
But the cost remains the same
People end their lives in frustration
Not willing to make a change
Now I wonder who took the life away
From living everyday from them
Oh I wonder who took the life away
From living every day from them
Give back my dreams to me
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
Teenage girl with scars on her wrists turns away not to cry
I wonder how someone so young could ever want to die
Now I feel like I'm turning my back away
To stop myself from going that way
Is it wrong?
Oh, I feel like I'm turning my back away
To stop myself from throwing away
Is it wrong?
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
Oh, I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
Oh, against the wall
(Woah woah woah woah oh yeah)
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up,
Wake up, wake up, yeah
Give back my dreams to me, now
Give them back so I can still believe
'Cause I don't want to go to bed tonight
'Cause I don't want to close my eyes too tight
Oh I don't want to go to sleep tonight
In case I wake up against the wall
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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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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.
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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,
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Ed Sheeran
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.