"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.
Dulling from within to find a reason for it all
Lost for years
In the storm
Waiting for the rain to stop me from washing me away
I held on tight
Awaiting night
And I lay me down to sleep
And find a world where I was free
[Chorus]
Imagine a place
Where dreams lead the way
And all of your colors fade the gray
Imagine the dream
Now close both your eyes
Fall into the violet skies
Deep inside your eyes it shows
You've been lost for too long
Out of touch
On the edge
I promise you will find a way
I found a pathway home
I'll carry you
You're not alone
So now I lay us down to sleep
I found a world where we are free
[Chorus]
Lost for years
In the storm
Waiting for the rain to stop me from washing me away
I held on tight
Awaiting night
And I lay me down to sleep
And find a world where I was free
[Chorus]
Imagine a place
Where dreams lead the way
And all of your colors fade the gray
Imagine the dream
Now close both your eyes
Fall into the violet skies
Deep inside your eyes it shows
You've been lost for too long
Out of touch
On the edge
I promise you will find a way
I found a pathway home
I'll carry you
You're not alone
So now I lay us down to sleep
I found a world where we are free
[Chorus]
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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."
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
From this song I get that... Everything may be bad now but with perservernce and help you can be stronger. damn the beggining is awesome
I think of this as having deeper meaning than the other person mentioned. I think that it somewhat political... or I guess more worldly. This song is about a perfect world. Dreams lead the way. Colors fade the gray. Sadly, that is not the world we live in. It is currently just a dream in the minds of SOME (which is why she states that SHE has found it and is encouraging others to do so). I also wish we could live in a world with violet skies and no hate. It is similar to their song great divide... It is just not as upfront about it.
I see it as someone is going through hard times that leave them more then less uncaring and unfeeling. (entire first verse) Bound by their situation that is holding them down, they use their dreams to escape the grey of their reality...(lay me down to sleep, and find a world where I am free) In their eyes they seem distant from escaping the world so much. (Deep...edge) Words of encouragement for those that are on the edge (I promise...not alone)
It could be political...this is just the way I see it...always had a huge distaste for politics...
I think this song is not as over-arching as some think it is. The references to "You and me we're gonna be all right, we're gonna shake the ground, we're gonna touch the sky..." seems far more personal to me. Almost like it's encouraging us to let our dreams lead our own way and not let the World tell us we can't or shouldn't or won't.