"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.
The speculators made their money on the blood you shed
Your momma's pulled the sheets up off your bed
Profiteers on James Street sold your shoes and clothes
Ain't nobody talkin' because everybody knows
We pulled your cycle up back the garage and polished up the chrome*
Our gypsy biker coming home
Sister Mary sits with your colors, but Johnny's drunk and gone
This old town's been rousted, which side you on?
They would march up over the hill, this old fools parade
Shouting victory for the righteous for you must hear the grace
Ain't nobody talkin', but just waiting on the phone
Gypsy biker coming home
We rode into the foothills, Bobby brought the gasoline
We stood around the circle as she lit up the ravine
The spring hot desert wind rushed down on us all the way back home
To the dead, well it don't matter much 'bout who's wrong or right
You asked me that question, I didn't get it right
You slipped into your darkness, now all that remains
Is my love for you brother, life's still unchanged
To him that threw you away, you ain't nothing but gone
My gypsy biker's coming home
And now I'm out countin' white lines
Countin' white lines and getting stoned
My gypsy biker's coming home
La la la la
Your momma's pulled the sheets up off your bed
Profiteers on James Street sold your shoes and clothes
Ain't nobody talkin' because everybody knows
We pulled your cycle up back the garage and polished up the chrome*
Our gypsy biker coming home
Sister Mary sits with your colors, but Johnny's drunk and gone
This old town's been rousted, which side you on?
They would march up over the hill, this old fools parade
Shouting victory for the righteous for you must hear the grace
Ain't nobody talkin', but just waiting on the phone
Gypsy biker coming home
We rode into the foothills, Bobby brought the gasoline
We stood around the circle as she lit up the ravine
The spring hot desert wind rushed down on us all the way back home
To the dead, well it don't matter much 'bout who's wrong or right
You asked me that question, I didn't get it right
You slipped into your darkness, now all that remains
Is my love for you brother, life's still unchanged
To him that threw you away, you ain't nothing but gone
My gypsy biker's coming home
And now I'm out countin' white lines
Countin' white lines and getting stoned
My gypsy biker's coming home
La la la la
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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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“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.
This is about a kid coming home from Iraq in a coffin
This song is an example not only of Springstein's brilliance as a song writer but the nearly unfathomable depth of talent in the band. <br /> Sonicly, this song is a reckless, stoned, high-speed motorcyle ride down a winding road by someone trying to escape the demons that have been visited upon him by experience and loss. <br /> Rage, desperation, confusion, and grief all crammed into a few beautiful minutes by a group of guys who not only revere their art and each others abilities, but the subjects of their songs.<br /> Just think about how all of the parts of the song come together so perfectly, you already know 5 seconds into the song what it is about-before you hear lyrics, that intro is haunting as hell. <br /> I am positive that twangy guitar part at the very beginning is cribbed from the keyboard intro to "Unknown Soldier" by the Doors. <br /> The drums that kick the song into gear. <br /> That ridiculously fat groove of a bassline going by like highway lines at 120 mph.<br /> Then that absolute fucking rifle shot of a guitar solo....<br /> I could write a book about this song.