"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.
You let me into your life on a whim
And there was magic and fire in the night
In loving I was just a little boy
I made mistakes that caused you so much pain
All I know is that I'm older now
Some people think that it's best to refrain
From the conventions of old-fashioned love
Their hearts are filled with holes and emptiness
They tell themselves that they're too young to settle down
Girl I promise that I'm older now
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
I wasn't looking when we built these walls
Let me spread my dreams at your feet
Let's not let time's bitter flood rise
Before my thoughts begin to run
I think I'm getting older now
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
Can't stand the thought of another, talking to you sweet my dear
Where would I be tonight if you hadn't held me here, in your arms?
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
And there was magic and fire in the night
In loving I was just a little boy
I made mistakes that caused you so much pain
All I know is that I'm older now
Some people think that it's best to refrain
From the conventions of old-fashioned love
Their hearts are filled with holes and emptiness
They tell themselves that they're too young to settle down
Girl I promise that I'm older now
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
I wasn't looking when we built these walls
Let me spread my dreams at your feet
Let's not let time's bitter flood rise
Before my thoughts begin to run
I think I'm getting older now
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
Can't stand the thought of another, talking to you sweet my dear
Where would I be tonight if you hadn't held me here, in your arms?
And this has been hard enough on you
I know it's been hard enough on me
Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes
And when the water gets high above your head
Darling don't you see,
While this has been hard enough on you
It's been hard enough on me
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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
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
When I listened to this song for the first time, it sounded like it was maybe about Brandon and his wife. They met when they were both really young, married very young, and through his whole career, stuck by each other, and even began having kids. Obviously Brandon being a musician and all, especially an extremely famous one, can't be easy for a wife or girlfriend, etc, all the time, especially with groupies constantly throwing themselves at him, him always being away, and like any human being, the temptations that's out there, especiallyyy in that industry. Brandon has even commented in past interviews that initially, the whole "rock star/celebrity" life really shocked him and indirectly hinted that he's gone through some stuff because of it; "Been telling myself that I can roll with the changes" - obviously it hasn't been easy constantly adjusting to the changes that keep coming in his life. Maybe the song is just his way of letting his wife know, hey, you're not in this thing alone & I go through a lot too. And that throughout it all, she's stuck by him and thanks to her for that, look where they are now, especially him = "Where would I be tonight if you hadn't held me here, in your arms?"
But that's just my take lol.