"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.
On top for forever
A fantasy? Oh no, never
Wait 'til you hear the chorus girl.
A snowdrop with sunstroke
A love song to make you choke
Wait 'til you hear the chorus girl.
There'll be no waiting limos
No cocaine and discos
I gave that all up for the chorus girl.
Look out of the window,
The people move down below
Each one is in love with the chorus girl.
You're tried to ignore her
Derided those who adore her
But soon you'll come 'round to the chorus girl.
The poor become wealthy
The sick become healthy
But don't crucify the chorus girl.
At night all alone
With my microphone
I never come close to the chorus girl.
I'm waiting for you now
There's nothing to do now
But save your breath for the chorus girl.
I'm waiting for you now
There's nothing to do now
But save your breath for the chorus girl.
A fantasy? Oh no, never
Wait 'til you hear the chorus girl.
A snowdrop with sunstroke
A love song to make you choke
Wait 'til you hear the chorus girl.
There'll be no waiting limos
No cocaine and discos
I gave that all up for the chorus girl.
Look out of the window,
The people move down below
Each one is in love with the chorus girl.
You're tried to ignore her
Derided those who adore her
But soon you'll come 'round to the chorus girl.
The poor become wealthy
The sick become healthy
But don't crucify the chorus girl.
At night all alone
With my microphone
I never come close to the chorus girl.
I'm waiting for you now
There's nothing to do now
But save your breath for the chorus girl.
I'm waiting for you now
There's nothing to do now
But save your breath for the chorus girl.
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This whole album is interesting to me. In this song, we keep waiting for the chorus girl, does he mean the girl that sings the chorus? Because the chorus never comes, and we just keep waiting.
I listen to this song and can’t help but tie it to the period of time that Steven left the Barenaked Ladies. It seems like a cryptic way of saying how he thinks they are going to do so well without him and that everyone should stay listening to them even if he isn’t there