"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.
Love you like a brother,
Treat you like a friend.
Respect you like a lover
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
You could bet that
Never gotta sweat that [x2]
If you be the cash, I'll be the rubberband
You be the match, I'm gon be the fuse, boom
Painter baby, you could be the muse
I'm the reporter baby, you could be the news
Cause you're the cigarette and I'm the smoker
We raise a be, cause you're the joker
You are the chalk and I can be the blackboard
You could be the talk and I could be the walk
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
You could bet that never gotta sweat that [x2]
You could be the lover, I'll be the fighter baby
If I'm the blunt, you could be the lighter babe
Fire it up
Writer baby, you could be the quote
If I'm the lyric baby, you could be the note. record that
Saint I'm a sinner, prize I'm a winner, it's you
What can I do to deserve that
Paper baby, I'll be the pen
Say that I'm the one, cause girl you're a ten
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
(Now rock with me babe, let me hold you in my arms, talk with me babe yeah, yeah)
This love between you and I is simple as pie baby
It's such a sure thing (such a sure thing)
Ooh it such a sure thing (such a sure thing)
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
Love you like a brother,
Treat you like a friend.
Respect you like a lover
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Treat you like a friend.
Respect you like a lover
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
You could bet that
Never gotta sweat that [x2]
If you be the cash, I'll be the rubberband
You be the match, I'm gon be the fuse, boom
Painter baby, you could be the muse
I'm the reporter baby, you could be the news
Cause you're the cigarette and I'm the smoker
We raise a be, cause you're the joker
You are the chalk and I can be the blackboard
You could be the talk and I could be the walk
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
You could bet that never gotta sweat that [x2]
You could be the lover, I'll be the fighter baby
If I'm the blunt, you could be the lighter babe
Fire it up
Writer baby, you could be the quote
If I'm the lyric baby, you could be the note. record that
Saint I'm a sinner, prize I'm a winner, it's you
What can I do to deserve that
Paper baby, I'll be the pen
Say that I'm the one, cause girl you're a ten
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
(Now rock with me babe, let me hold you in my arms, talk with me babe yeah, yeah)
This love between you and I is simple as pie baby
It's such a sure thing (such a sure thing)
Ooh it such a sure thing (such a sure thing)
Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire baby
Even when it's do or die
We could do it baby, simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing
Love you like a brother,
Treat you like a friend.
Respect you like a lover
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Lyrics submitted by Keykeykinszx3
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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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.
Mountain Song
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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.
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No Surprises
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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
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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.
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