"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.
I met you for the first time
At the camp of the Left Youth League
You were a vegetarian
It tasted strange to kiss you
Maybe cause you ate different food
Than me at that time
And you asked me if I wanted to be your first
What a question for a seventeen year old boy
The only problem with the honorary task
Was that it came with a lot of pressure
A kind of pressure almost impossible to measure
For a seventeen year old boy
So of course I said yes
I was flattered by the trust you showed
By choosing me
We decided on a date
When you would come to my town
So it could happen
And you asked me if I’d done it before and I had
Yes, only once but I made it sound like a million
The only problem with the honorary task
Was that it came with a lot of pressure
A kind of pressure almost impossible to measure
For a seventeen year old boy
We tried to do it in the forest
I tried to make it good
We tried to do it on the floor but
I guess the pressure was too hard
So I asked you if you could sleep over
So we could relax and then try again
The only problem was that you had to call home
And ask your parents if you could stay
A kind of question that was doomed to get a “Nay”
And they came in a car to pick you up
At the camp of the Left Youth League
You were a vegetarian
It tasted strange to kiss you
Maybe cause you ate different food
Than me at that time
And you asked me if I wanted to be your first
What a question for a seventeen year old boy
The only problem with the honorary task
Was that it came with a lot of pressure
A kind of pressure almost impossible to measure
For a seventeen year old boy
So of course I said yes
I was flattered by the trust you showed
By choosing me
We decided on a date
When you would come to my town
So it could happen
And you asked me if I’d done it before and I had
Yes, only once but I made it sound like a million
The only problem with the honorary task
Was that it came with a lot of pressure
A kind of pressure almost impossible to measure
For a seventeen year old boy
We tried to do it in the forest
I tried to make it good
We tried to do it on the floor but
I guess the pressure was too hard
So I asked you if you could sleep over
So we could relax and then try again
The only problem was that you had to call home
And ask your parents if you could stay
A kind of question that was doomed to get a “Nay”
And they came in a car to pick you up
Lyrics submitted by eurasia14
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.