"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.
AZ
Yea, yea, check it out
I see today's mathematics as being understanding, you know?
Understanding is having the ability to see things clearly
For what they are not what they present theyself to be
It completes the cipher, you know what I'm saying?
It's also about to the black child which is the best part
Ayo, son, represent
Verse 1
Now I'm the average nigga in the street like God
I try to beat trife art, ride my elite through the night fog and park
It's Buddha 'til we spark, it's consistent
The beast smells the el because it travels long distance
Cruising in his Chrysler, perusing niggas in my ciphers
Thoughts wilding like insane asylum on Rikers Island
Verbal assassin, I murder freestyling
One two for the gun crew, three drinking Cristal and
I play the side 'cause the words of man kill
Proverbs, buck out my grill, real as I'll Will, peep still
Nobody move nobody die, why must be I high?
Busting in trife bitches, touching mic switches
It's like a hot spoon of heroin, a Dom like Perignon
Females love the guns I be wearing
Plant my seeds to live infinite, indeed in my sentences
I pull demanding, that's understanding
Verse 2
850 Tempo but rugged like a Pinto
Chop shop hip-hop, burning block intro
High priests release voodoo, déjà vu and this taboo
Illmatic shit and what have you
Chef cocaine cook, no brain got the proper diction
My competition bleeds words and weed blurs my vision
I'm freezing in time, stops the rhyme
I'm sober in stolen Range Rover much crime
I, stick up America, Nas in your area
Disrupt the sound barrier, clowns get pounds of terror
A full whip for more clips then Clint has in his era
Dirty Harry, cold black the uncanny, a Kojak
A beretta sticking up trucks carrying amaretto
Clever to entice 'em, herbs I'm micing while I'm pricing
Niggas like they're slaves, best behave I'm the nice one
Nas; broke it down for Nasir, please protect your
Pop Dukes, resurrection international hoes, I'm sexing
Or you'll be fucking one section, question?
Does a lonely mic give me an erection?, yes, son
On a float like the jets of futuristic papamisitic
Bust it, try and diss while my finger is on the iron and biscuit
I rhyme terrific spark a land like the diamond district
It's understanding
Yea, yea, check it out
I see today's mathematics as being understanding, you know?
Understanding is having the ability to see things clearly
For what they are not what they present theyself to be
It completes the cipher, you know what I'm saying?
It's also about to the black child which is the best part
Ayo, son, represent
Verse 1
Now I'm the average nigga in the street like God
I try to beat trife art, ride my elite through the night fog and park
It's Buddha 'til we spark, it's consistent
The beast smells the el because it travels long distance
Cruising in his Chrysler, perusing niggas in my ciphers
Thoughts wilding like insane asylum on Rikers Island
Verbal assassin, I murder freestyling
One two for the gun crew, three drinking Cristal and
I play the side 'cause the words of man kill
Proverbs, buck out my grill, real as I'll Will, peep still
Nobody move nobody die, why must be I high?
Busting in trife bitches, touching mic switches
It's like a hot spoon of heroin, a Dom like Perignon
Females love the guns I be wearing
Plant my seeds to live infinite, indeed in my sentences
I pull demanding, that's understanding
Verse 2
850 Tempo but rugged like a Pinto
Chop shop hip-hop, burning block intro
High priests release voodoo, déjà vu and this taboo
Illmatic shit and what have you
Chef cocaine cook, no brain got the proper diction
My competition bleeds words and weed blurs my vision
I'm freezing in time, stops the rhyme
I'm sober in stolen Range Rover much crime
I, stick up America, Nas in your area
Disrupt the sound barrier, clowns get pounds of terror
A full whip for more clips then Clint has in his era
Dirty Harry, cold black the uncanny, a Kojak
A beretta sticking up trucks carrying amaretto
Clever to entice 'em, herbs I'm micing while I'm pricing
Niggas like they're slaves, best behave I'm the nice one
Nas; broke it down for Nasir, please protect your
Pop Dukes, resurrection international hoes, I'm sexing
Or you'll be fucking one section, question?
Does a lonely mic give me an erection?, yes, son
On a float like the jets of futuristic papamisitic
Bust it, try and diss while my finger is on the iron and biscuit
I rhyme terrific spark a land like the diamond district
It's understanding
Lyrics submitted by MARS is purple
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.