"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.
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I'm full of knowing nothing
I find that I hunger for the fullness of Christ
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I"m free-falling again
I'm letting go of the mountain view
Letting go, but what into?
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I'm full of knowing nothing
I find that I'm hungry for the fullness of Christ
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I"m free-falling again
I'm letting go of the mountain view
Letting go, but what into?
I've been crucified with Christ
I've been crucified with Christ
I've been crucified with Christ
Yet not I, but one thing I know
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
Just in time
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time, time
It's just a matter of time
So into Your hands
Into Your hands I fall
Into Your hands
Into Your hands I fall
Into Your hands
So into Your hands I fall
For You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
On You I wait
On You I wait
On You I wait
All of my days
And on You I wait
On You I wait always
On You I wait
All of my days
All of my days
No one who waits on You will ever be ashamed
No one who waits will ever be disappointed
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
So calm down, my soul
Calm down and know
So calm down, my soul
Calm down and know
His yoke is easy
His burden is light
It simply costs everything
But it's not too mysterious
It's not for the wise in their own eyes
It's not for the mighty of the rich
But He has saved Himself for me
But He has saved Himself for me
So calm down, my soul
Just calm down and know
Just calm down, my soul
Just calm down and know
No one who waits on the Lord will ever be ashamed
For wisdom will be justified
In just a matter of time, time, time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
And You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
Calm down, my soul
Be quiet within me
And put your trust in God
From where your help comes from
From where your help comes from
Just calm down, my soul, and wait
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I'm full of knowing nothing
I find that I hunger for the fullness of Christ
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I"m free-falling again
I'm letting go of the mountain view
Letting go, but what into?
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I'm full of knowing nothing
I find that I'm hungry for the fullness of Christ
Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I"m free-falling again
I'm letting go of the mountain view
Letting go, but what into?
I've been crucified with Christ
I've been crucified with Christ
I've been crucified with Christ
Yet not I, but one thing I know
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
Just in time
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time, time
It's just a matter of time
So into Your hands
Into Your hands I fall
Into Your hands
Into Your hands I fall
Into Your hands
So into Your hands I fall
For You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
On You I wait
On You I wait
On You I wait
All of my days
And on You I wait
On You I wait always
On You I wait
All of my days
All of my days
No one who waits on You will ever be ashamed
No one who waits will ever be disappointed
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
So calm down, my soul
Calm down and know
So calm down, my soul
Calm down and know
His yoke is easy
His burden is light
It simply costs everything
But it's not too mysterious
It's not for the wise in their own eyes
It's not for the mighty of the rich
But He has saved Himself for me
But He has saved Himself for me
So calm down, my soul
Just calm down and know
Just calm down, my soul
Just calm down and know
No one who waits on the Lord will ever be ashamed
For wisdom will be justified
In just a matter of time, time, time
It's just a matter of time, time, time
And You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
You make all things beautiful
Just in time
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
Calm down, my soul
Be quiet within me
And put your trust in God
From where your help comes from
From where your help comes from
Just calm down, my soul, and wait
It's just a matter of time
It's just a matter of time
Lyrics submitted by squirrelofdoom22
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
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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.
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.