"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.
A man was bothering me today and I
Wanted to tell him to go away
But I stood and listened to him anyway, okay
He said he didn't want to shoot that man
And it was his thing and I wouldn't understand
And he had done all that he can, okay
I guess his body was as good as mine
And just like me he was wasting time
Turning over every stone to see what he could find, okay
He was filling tank and he asked for money
I lied and said I didn't have any
Then my conscious took over and I gave him a hand full of change
Don't do a thing,don't do a thing
Stay right there
You'll lie there, you'll lie there
You don't seem to care
I know its hard to survive in the city
When the beautiful days don't look so pretty
And you don't have windows to keep the night away, okay
He was dirty and stink and just a bit crude
But I didn't say that because that's kind of rude
And he didn't care what I had to say in the first place, okay
I wanted to say you're a big disgrace to the world,
Yourself, and the human race
And reach back and pop him one good time in the face, okay
No its not okay and I didn't do that
But I gave him a smile and tipped my hat and told him to have a very nice rest
Of the day
Don't do a thing
Don't do a thing
Stay right there
You'll lie there
You'll lie there
You don't seem to care
Guess he bought some booze or shit and sure that bothers me a little bit but it's his life
And I can't tell him how to live it
As he turned and started to go his way I tried to think of something wise to
Say like
Don't do a thing, don't do a thing
Stay right here
You'll die here
You don't seem to care
You'll die here, you'll die here
You don't seem to care
Wanted to tell him to go away
But I stood and listened to him anyway, okay
He said he didn't want to shoot that man
And it was his thing and I wouldn't understand
And he had done all that he can, okay
I guess his body was as good as mine
And just like me he was wasting time
Turning over every stone to see what he could find, okay
He was filling tank and he asked for money
I lied and said I didn't have any
Then my conscious took over and I gave him a hand full of change
Don't do a thing,don't do a thing
Stay right there
You'll lie there, you'll lie there
You don't seem to care
I know its hard to survive in the city
When the beautiful days don't look so pretty
And you don't have windows to keep the night away, okay
He was dirty and stink and just a bit crude
But I didn't say that because that's kind of rude
And he didn't care what I had to say in the first place, okay
I wanted to say you're a big disgrace to the world,
Yourself, and the human race
And reach back and pop him one good time in the face, okay
No its not okay and I didn't do that
But I gave him a smile and tipped my hat and told him to have a very nice rest
Of the day
Don't do a thing
Don't do a thing
Stay right there
You'll lie there
You'll lie there
You don't seem to care
Guess he bought some booze or shit and sure that bothers me a little bit but it's his life
And I can't tell him how to live it
As he turned and started to go his way I tried to think of something wise to
Say like
Don't do a thing, don't do a thing
Stay right here
You'll die here
You don't seem to care
You'll die here, you'll die here
You don't seem to care
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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jailed clients cheered his move. DNA testing. Sq
jailed clients cheered his move. DNA testing. Sq
Narrator recalls being approached by a panhandler whose manner he found offensive, yet he did not confront. Song relates his conflicted feelings on the matter.