"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.
How did we get this far
How did this come to be
Why does fear dominate
When all we want is peace
We've got to find a way to heal
The wounds that we have bled
The empires fall
And rise again
[Chorus]
Save us, save us from ourselves
Now
We're fighting without a reason
We're killing her softly day by day
We're guilty we're all in treason
It's time to mend this great divide
We have to end the hate
And fight hypocrisy
We have to believe in life
And all humanity
Think of the children that have to live
In what we leave behind
The empires fall
And rise again
[Chorus]
How did this come to be
Why does fear dominate
When all we want is peace
We've got to find a way to heal
The wounds that we have bled
The empires fall
And rise again
[Chorus]
Save us, save us from ourselves
Now
We're fighting without a reason
We're killing her softly day by day
We're guilty we're all in treason
It's time to mend this great divide
We have to end the hate
And fight hypocrisy
We have to believe in life
And all humanity
Think of the children that have to live
In what we leave behind
The empires fall
And rise again
[Chorus]
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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.
This song is really amazing. The band is great, and the vocalization from Maria is incredible, from the proclaiming and boisterous "We're fighting without a reason" to the verses done in that awesome screaming. Definitely one of the more impressive songs off "The Dream"
For me, this song means something very universal, and that is the idea of people simply being ignorant to things that are different or not what they want them to be, and the want for those things to end.
"We're killing her, we're all in treason." By being obnoxious we're destroying America, and we're making it something that America isn't. America stands for a Country that accepts all walks of man, and by dividing it, we are committing treason. I think that Maria is writing these lyrics to try and plea for people to stop fighting and hating each other and to let the divide present in this country to become mended.
"Why does fear dominate, When all we want is peace, The empires fall, and rise again." The message of peace is many times delivered in a very not peaceful manner. (i.e. war) War causes empires to fall, and then they rise again under a new government's order, thus instilling "peace." But the peace making actually makes everything, well... not peaceful. Blood is being spilt by the hypocrisy of our own actions, both world-wide and right here in America, and this song is crying out, actually screaming for an end to all the vast gaps and spaces that are just filled up with violence and misunderstandings, when really we should just try to understand those things better and simply try to coexist.
Well Done In This Moment, your music amazes me.