"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 scent of flowers in the crowded street
A lonely bell singing for passing feet
“You may not come in here
(You may not come in here)
Sweaty time, dirty time to stand
Watch out mouth, hard argument
You may not come in here
(You may not come in here)”
Hey, fold your flag out a steer(?) (fold your flag)
Hoist it up high to make it real (hoist it high)
A canvas bag to fit it all (a canvas bag)
Hands suspended all, needs to bend and crawl
Well, whose land are you standing on?
Lines, lines, lines
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
And this is so, so, so real
You can see that, shining in the gutter
It’s right over there
(no, it’s not over here)
Then which way are you supposed to fear?
A full set of broken teeth to bear
It’s right over there
(no, it’s not over here)
They built a wall out of bricks (built a wall)
Made it real long, made sure everyone could see it (made it real long)
A message write and this (a message write)
“This is not your home
You do not belong here”
Well, whose land are you standing on?
They’re na-na-na-na-knocking on your door
Well, whose land are you standing on?
They’re na-na-na-na-knocking on your store
What were you dreaming of?
Yeah, what were you dreaming of?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
What do you want from us?
Yeah, what do you want from us?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
What were you dreaming of?
Yeah, what were you dreaming of?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
A lonely bell singing for passing feet
“You may not come in here
(You may not come in here)
Sweaty time, dirty time to stand
Watch out mouth, hard argument
You may not come in here
(You may not come in here)”
Hey, fold your flag out a steer(?) (fold your flag)
Hoist it up high to make it real (hoist it high)
A canvas bag to fit it all (a canvas bag)
Hands suspended all, needs to bend and crawl
Well, whose land are you standing on?
Lines, lines, lines
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
And this is so, so, so real
You can see that, shining in the gutter
It’s right over there
(no, it’s not over here)
Then which way are you supposed to fear?
A full set of broken teeth to bear
It’s right over there
(no, it’s not over here)
They built a wall out of bricks (built a wall)
Made it real long, made sure everyone could see it (made it real long)
A message write and this (a message write)
“This is not your home
You do not belong here”
Well, whose land are you standing on?
They’re na-na-na-na-knocking on your door
Well, whose land are you standing on?
They’re na-na-na-na-knocking on your store
What were you dreaming of?
Yeah, what were you dreaming of?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
What do you want from us?
Yeah, what do you want from us?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
What were you dreaming of?
Yeah, what were you dreaming of?
Poor man’s ice cream
Poor man’s ice cream
Lyrics submitted by LouiseB
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I think the lyric goes...
"They forged a flag our of steel"
I think the lyric goes...
"They forged a flag out of steel"
I think it has something to do with the Berlin Wall or just being on the bad end of segregation. The "flag out of steel" and "they built a wall out of bricks, made it real long, made sure that everyone could see it" is what made me think about the Berlin wall/the Iron Curtain. A lot of it seemed to be about living in a hard time ("A canvas bag to fit it all"), watching out for the government ("they" and "we" are distinct from each other), and being confused ("yeah what do you want from us?"). "Lines, lines, lines," "which way are you supposed to fear," "this is not your home, you do not belong," "you may not come in here," and "whose land are you standing on?" are all like declaring a side or more like being assigned to a side.
when i first heard this song i thought of the europeans coming to the americas and the conflicts between the natives and the europeans because of the line "whose land are you standing on?" i still think that now that i've actually read the lyrics.
This song is definetly underrated. Its freaking amazing
I definitely see parallels to the immigration debate here, how we draw arbitrary boundaries between people, how difficult it is to say who the land "truly" belongs to as others were here first.