"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.
For what I was
I'm doomed to be
The tempter and the secret foe
Cause I am hell and hell is me
Pure hate will grow
Still I claim to be the chosen one
And still I claim this rebellion is rising
First amongst equals
We're bound to no law
There's noone before us
Ethereal sons now disobey
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
Stay silent
Until the end of the world
So just like slaves we may deem him
Dead silence
Until the end of the world
Hence from this moment we're doomed
I feel
It hurts though
Disburdened spirits we will be
I've learned my lession
Pure and sore
An offer divine
We're far beneath them
They consider us slaves
They steal our pride
Don't trust them blindly
Cause truth they conceal
As it seems
I'll reign
Cause here in my tower
Impassioned, I'll show you a way
I can feel hallowed rage
Now enter my realm
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
Descend, just keep moving
All things shall proceed
It's freedom you're choosing
Preserve our hate
Eternalize
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
I'm doomed to be
The tempter and the secret foe
Cause I am hell and hell is me
Pure hate will grow
Still I claim to be the chosen one
And still I claim this rebellion is rising
First amongst equals
We're bound to no law
There's noone before us
Ethereal sons now disobey
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
Stay silent
Until the end of the world
So just like slaves we may deem him
Dead silence
Until the end of the world
Hence from this moment we're doomed
I feel
It hurts though
Disburdened spirits we will be
I've learned my lession
Pure and sore
An offer divine
We're far beneath them
They consider us slaves
They steal our pride
Don't trust them blindly
Cause truth they conceal
As it seems
I'll reign
Cause here in my tower
Impassioned, I'll show you a way
I can feel hallowed rage
Now enter my realm
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
Descend, just keep moving
All things shall proceed
It's freedom you're choosing
Preserve our hate
Eternalize
Awake and arise
You'll be free
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
How can we take it away from someone who has no right
No right to control the divine
Night shall invade, suspicion awakes
Wherefore he's greater than I
Lyrics submitted by revanchist
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I'm not half as nerdy as I'd need to be to understand the things Blind Guardian references, but is this maybe about Dune? The "divine" being the spice, the person they're rebelling against being Pedofatman Baron Harkonnen, the awakening and arising folks being the Fremen? Also, he says he'll reign, like Paul Atreides, and "night invades" could be the Fremen moving during night.
But then, the focus on hatred really doesn't match up, and I'm pretty sure each of these songs is tailor-made to fit the referenced stories down to the last detail. So I could be wrong.