"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.
Lift your head
Don't forget
You are love
Hang onto me
That'll be the first words that you learn
Listen child
And believe them until you die
Not long for me
For you see
The dreamers have all grown
And I so wanted children of my own
Don't forget
You are love
Hang onto me
That'll be the first words that you learn
Listen child
And believe them until you die
Not long for me
For you see
The dreamers have all grown
And I so wanted children of my own
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I feel like this is a reprise of "Silas the Magic Car" in that it has the same tune as the opening vocals. "Silas the Magic Car" seems to be about Johan leaving the band, so it's possible that Reprise is an extension of that. I would think that Johan is the narrator of this song, even though it's sung by Jonas. Johan is talking to his child, saying that he somewhat regrets leaving Mew, and that he should learn and take to heart "hanging on," because he should stay with people that he knows love him. He then goes on to say that he's almost at the end of his life, or his career. "The dreamers" he refers to I think are Jonas, Bo and Silas. "I so wanted children of my own" is self-explanatory.
I hope this is somewhat right.
Obviously, as the name suggests (as well as the music), this song is a reprise of Silas The Magic Car. I think STMC was written from a hypothetical point-of-view, where Silas and Bo follow Johan's footsteps in leaving the band, with Jonas forced to move on and carry on with his life, hence the reference to parenthood in this song. It's also possible that the parenthood reference is perhaps Jonas' fear of the idea of finishing the band and having to face such a different role all by himself, as "the dreamers have all grown", and are leading their own lives.
The line "I so wanted children of my own" sort of contradicts what I just typed out, but I think it actually follows on, after the hypothetical situation unfolds, Jonas remembers, or maybe convinces himself that he wanted children of his own (which just reminds me of the middle section of Cartoons And Macrame Wounds).
I think this song is also just a reprise, or a recollection of the entire album, ignoring New Terrain/Nervous.
This is good. Basically I think that it's a parent talking to his/her newborn child, saying that it is important to be close to people and give them love and to dream that you can change the world. The last lines might mean that he is too old to have dreams anymore, so he "passes it on" to the next generation.
I love the quiet ending and the last couple of lines.. This CD does not have a grande finale, like many other masterpieces, it just dies slowly. And I think the last two lines goes very well with the title of the album. To me it is a bit abstract, though.