"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.
Voice 1: "Once when I was a little bit after, you know, after a good cigarette of hashish..."
Voice 2: "Uh-huh."
Voice 1: "... I was crazy enough, you know, to make myself, I was wearing this Egyptian galabia. I went in the most holy mosque, this is the most holy place in Egypt called Al-Hussein mosque, Al-Hussein, and I prayed with the Muslim people over there. I was scared to death that they would find me as a Jew, you know, trying to fake as a Muslim and praying. Well, there was thousands of people in the mosque, and I was on the ground, up and down, on my what-what on the what-what, you know, I was all, you know. All my head was full of hashish..."
Voice 2: "Ahh...!"
Voice 1: "... And, you know, my spirit in heaven, and I'm praying with the Muslim people. I tell you, this is a very real, uh, religion that create a lot of big trouble. You know, from all of this, you know, kneeling down, up and down, up and..."
Voice 2: "Uh-huh, heheh..."
Voice 1: "... You have to watch yourself, you know, so I did whatever I saw the people doing. So I succeed to survive this service and came out, you know, and I, uh --"
It takes a real long long way way down when you stumble
it takes about a day and a half when you call me and you stumble
I got a complete curse now that its over and you stumble
Don't make me steal all your vital organs
they'll make you squeal if you refuse to let them in
don't make me steal all your vital organs
your safety can be compromised again
All the vestments you deny
are mocking all the cheats
beside the nest egg you do hide
when nothing plays for keeps
And I warned you of the coming script
the play without her scenes won't quit
the sails that set are static pelts
of wet hail timpanies
The time that you take to appear
in the presence of others
is just the same time that it takes
to untangle my dementia
Don't let it be late this time if the breach starts to crumble
the thing that you made has risen neatly from its slumber
Don't make me steal all your vital organs
they'll make you squeal if you refuse to let them in
don't make me steal all your vital organs
your safety can be compromised again
All the vestments you deny
are mocking all the cheats
beside the nest egg you do hide
when nothing plays for keeps
And I warned you of the coming script
the play without her scenes won't quit
the sails that set are static pelts
of wet hail timpanies
Voice 2: "Uh-huh."
Voice 1: "... I was crazy enough, you know, to make myself, I was wearing this Egyptian galabia. I went in the most holy mosque, this is the most holy place in Egypt called Al-Hussein mosque, Al-Hussein, and I prayed with the Muslim people over there. I was scared to death that they would find me as a Jew, you know, trying to fake as a Muslim and praying. Well, there was thousands of people in the mosque, and I was on the ground, up and down, on my what-what on the what-what, you know, I was all, you know. All my head was full of hashish..."
Voice 2: "Ahh...!"
Voice 1: "... And, you know, my spirit in heaven, and I'm praying with the Muslim people. I tell you, this is a very real, uh, religion that create a lot of big trouble. You know, from all of this, you know, kneeling down, up and down, up and..."
Voice 2: "Uh-huh, heheh..."
Voice 1: "... You have to watch yourself, you know, so I did whatever I saw the people doing. So I succeed to survive this service and came out, you know, and I, uh --"
It takes a real long long way way down when you stumble
it takes about a day and a half when you call me and you stumble
I got a complete curse now that its over and you stumble
Don't make me steal all your vital organs
they'll make you squeal if you refuse to let them in
don't make me steal all your vital organs
your safety can be compromised again
All the vestments you deny
are mocking all the cheats
beside the nest egg you do hide
when nothing plays for keeps
And I warned you of the coming script
the play without her scenes won't quit
the sails that set are static pelts
of wet hail timpanies
The time that you take to appear
in the presence of others
is just the same time that it takes
to untangle my dementia
Don't let it be late this time if the breach starts to crumble
the thing that you made has risen neatly from its slumber
Don't make me steal all your vital organs
they'll make you squeal if you refuse to let them in
don't make me steal all your vital organs
your safety can be compromised again
All the vestments you deny
are mocking all the cheats
beside the nest egg you do hide
when nothing plays for keeps
And I warned you of the coming script
the play without her scenes won't quit
the sails that set are static pelts
of wet hail timpanies
Lyrics submitted by relaxeder
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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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
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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”
When We Were Young
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Amazing
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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.
the little story the guys telling in the beginning is pretty awesome. i think this is my favorite off cryptomnesia