"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.
Sometimes gunfire's brighter than the sunshine
Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on
But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the brink of fourty-three
Still searchin' for sanity, surveyin' the floor of his distorted sea
He remembers high-school friends jokin' about the war
Never knew what Mom was cryin' for
The other piece that shines in his mind
Is the divine first-love soul-mate beauty brown-eyed queen he left behind
He remembers holdin' her tight, watchin' the sunset at shore
Never knew what she was cryin' for
He got the letter in his mail by the middle of his summer
Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his new born brother
He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger
And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder
He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death
Sees the blood, feels the pain What's to gain?
Nothing's left but the slug that remains in his right path
The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad
Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat
The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet
Everyday he wakes and strains to repress his guilt
And forget the horror, the violence, the kill-or-be-killed
Fists are always clenched, teeth are always grindin'
Real life is lost, and in a bottle he tries to find it
"It's not fair", he mumbles through a nightmare
Only in the fight for two years, and wound up spendin' his whole life there
He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country
Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him
It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war
It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench
He's asked God for help, but found his source non-existent
He sits in the shadows, 'cause his sun burns no more
Now he knows what Mom was cryin' for
I used to watch old man in the park, the sight slowly drove right
through my heart
Wishin' I could help, but not knowin' where to start
I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love, and curse some more
Now you know who I've been cryin' for
He threw his medals in the river, but they sunk alone
Put shades on his eyes, to hide him from the war zone in the sky
He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago
But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide
If there was some way to break him out of this penitentiary
Gulps get bigger and figures it'll chase away his memories
But the dreams only worsen, the scenes almost burst in
He recalls how training took away his right to be a person
Put a gun in his hand, left him to die with the land
The plan was the murder of man
Politicians have a dispute, decide to send in troops
But the truth is, they just don't understand
Now he's runnin' out of time, and runnin' out of energy
But till the last day, he'll be fighting for the murder of his memories
And although he never got rid of his dog-tags
He still wishes they'd have sent his parents and american flag (instead of him)
He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country
Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him
It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war
Sometimes gunfire's brighter than the sunshine
Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on
But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on
But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the brink of fourty-three
Still searchin' for sanity, surveyin' the floor of his distorted sea
He remembers high-school friends jokin' about the war
Never knew what Mom was cryin' for
The other piece that shines in his mind
Is the divine first-love soul-mate beauty brown-eyed queen he left behind
He remembers holdin' her tight, watchin' the sunset at shore
Never knew what she was cryin' for
He got the letter in his mail by the middle of his summer
Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his new born brother
He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger
And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder
He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death
Sees the blood, feels the pain What's to gain?
Nothing's left but the slug that remains in his right path
The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad
Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat
The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet
Everyday he wakes and strains to repress his guilt
And forget the horror, the violence, the kill-or-be-killed
Fists are always clenched, teeth are always grindin'
Real life is lost, and in a bottle he tries to find it
"It's not fair", he mumbles through a nightmare
Only in the fight for two years, and wound up spendin' his whole life there
He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country
Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him
It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war
It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench
He's asked God for help, but found his source non-existent
He sits in the shadows, 'cause his sun burns no more
Now he knows what Mom was cryin' for
I used to watch old man in the park, the sight slowly drove right
through my heart
Wishin' I could help, but not knowin' where to start
I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love, and curse some more
Now you know who I've been cryin' for
He threw his medals in the river, but they sunk alone
Put shades on his eyes, to hide him from the war zone in the sky
He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago
But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide
If there was some way to break him out of this penitentiary
Gulps get bigger and figures it'll chase away his memories
But the dreams only worsen, the scenes almost burst in
He recalls how training took away his right to be a person
Put a gun in his hand, left him to die with the land
The plan was the murder of man
Politicians have a dispute, decide to send in troops
But the truth is, they just don't understand
Now he's runnin' out of time, and runnin' out of energy
But till the last day, he'll be fighting for the murder of his memories
And although he never got rid of his dog-tags
He still wishes they'd have sent his parents and american flag (instead of him)
He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country
Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him
It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war, but the war never left him, see
He left the war
Sometimes gunfire's brighter than the sunshine
Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on
But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen
Lyrics submitted by Reidja7
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Head > Heels
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“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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
This song is obviously about PTSD and Vietnam. Very well done.