"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.
Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe
The breaks in life always seem to pass away, pass away, pass away
But sometime baby you gotta let me break free, and break free, and break free
But that don't mean that I don't love you, love you
Oh yeah, if you listen I'll tell you one time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you to know
Burn, burn, burn, burn
Your love has burned and your soul is gone, and I don't care, and I don't mind
And there's something good in your never poor
Lord, lord, lord, lord
There's something in you well I can see
Now give it to me, give it to me
Oh yeah, if you listen I'll tell you one time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you know
Oh, Lord yeah, well if you listen I'll tell you one fucking time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, the sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you to know
Oh, give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up I said
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up when you see
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up I said
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it to me
Well oh yeah, well if you listen I'll tell you one fucking time
God damn, babe, I know you don't listen, and I'll tell you a second time.
The breaks in life always seem to pass away, pass away, pass away
But sometime baby you gotta let me break free, and break free, and break free
But that don't mean that I don't love you, love you
Oh yeah, if you listen I'll tell you one time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you to know
Burn, burn, burn, burn
Your love has burned and your soul is gone, and I don't care, and I don't mind
And there's something good in your never poor
Lord, lord, lord, lord
There's something in you well I can see
Now give it to me, give it to me
Oh yeah, if you listen I'll tell you one time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you know
Oh, Lord yeah, well if you listen I'll tell you one fucking time
Oh yeah babe, I know you don't listen and I'll tell you a second time
Oh yeah, the sheets gone baby and the sun is up, yeah
Oh yeah, you and she are gone, and she likes you to know
Oh, give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up I said
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up when you see
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it up I said
Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me, get it
Give it to me, give it to me
Well oh yeah, well if you listen I'll tell you one fucking time
God damn, babe, I know you don't listen, and I'll tell you a second time.
Lyrics submitted by SFy65B2G5rKbzps5acdHwQe6, edited by Randon83
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Silent Planet
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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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Yo La Tengo
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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.
Great version of a great song,
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Plastic Bag
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Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Wrong Lyrics Dude
@swift16842 I've checked out four different sites for lyrics on the net and all show these lyrics. Can you please post or provide a link for the "correct" lyrics??
@swift16842 Slo Burn released two different versions of this song. The lyrics posted here is for the official release of the song and not for the demo version.