"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.
Remember how you used to say
"you couldn't wait till tomorrow for a brand new day"
No fuss when ya had to ride the bus
You could add a little blush
Just to paralyze your school crush
Now your older and the weight upon your shoulder
Makes the world a little colder
No more hiding in the old days
Be strong
Don't give up hope
It will get hard
'Cause life's like a jump rope
Up down when it gets hard remember life's like a jump rope
There'll be a bump there will be a bruise
There'll be alarms and there will be a snooze
There'll be a path that u will get to choose
There'll be a win and there will be a lose
You have to hold your head up high and
Watch all the negative go by
Don't u ever be ashamed to cry
You go ahead
Cause life's like a jump rope
I want to tell u that everything will be okay
That everything will eventually turn itself to gold
Keep pushing through it all
Don't follow, lead the way
Don't lose yourself or your hope
Remember life's like a jump rope
"you couldn't wait till tomorrow for a brand new day"
No fuss when ya had to ride the bus
You could add a little blush
Just to paralyze your school crush
Now your older and the weight upon your shoulder
Makes the world a little colder
No more hiding in the old days
Be strong
Don't give up hope
It will get hard
'Cause life's like a jump rope
Up down when it gets hard remember life's like a jump rope
There'll be a bump there will be a bruise
There'll be alarms and there will be a snooze
There'll be a path that u will get to choose
There'll be a win and there will be a lose
You have to hold your head up high and
Watch all the negative go by
Don't u ever be ashamed to cry
You go ahead
Cause life's like a jump rope
I want to tell u that everything will be okay
That everything will eventually turn itself to gold
Keep pushing through it all
Don't follow, lead the way
Don't lose yourself or your hope
Remember life's like a jump rope
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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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
I read in an interview that he wrote this song for his daughter. Apparently in the liner notes, it says it's dedicated to her.
I can't find that exact quote related to this song, but here's a similar one from an interview with ultimate-guitar.com:
Then I had a daughter — and it all changed. The songs that came out of my head were like, “I’m not the victim anymore. Do you think you’re going to take this away from me and make me do that? Try. Well, you were dramatic and you needed someone to listen to you, and now you can help other people. You’re cool. You’re fine. You’re okay. Be more proactive and less whiny.” That’s what I said to myself. And get on the treadmill, dude! I keep myself busy and write the best, most awesome songs I can. I guess that’s what I do.