"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.
Anything that happened when I was young,
it came so measly.
And now all of those things are haunting me,
and nothing will calm.
I won't be offended if no one sees,
I just wanna know what that'll mean.
When I'm alone I make believe that,
I'm in a different time and place where,
nobody wants to know my name and
no one will recognize my face.
Anything that I did way back when,
it seems so long ago.
Might as well have all been by accident,
I've nothing left to show.
I wont be offended if no one stays,
I'll just blame it all on my old age.
When I'm alone I make believe that,
I'm in a different time and place where,
nobody wants to know my name and
no one will recognize my face.
2am, I'm thinking about how lucky i've been.
I need to take a moment to myself.
6am, I'm thinking about how lonely i've been.
I need to take a moment to myself.
it came so measly.
And now all of those things are haunting me,
and nothing will calm.
I won't be offended if no one sees,
I just wanna know what that'll mean.
When I'm alone I make believe that,
I'm in a different time and place where,
nobody wants to know my name and
no one will recognize my face.
Anything that I did way back when,
it seems so long ago.
Might as well have all been by accident,
I've nothing left to show.
I wont be offended if no one stays,
I'll just blame it all on my old age.
When I'm alone I make believe that,
I'm in a different time and place where,
nobody wants to know my name and
no one will recognize my face.
2am, I'm thinking about how lucky i've been.
I need to take a moment to myself.
6am, I'm thinking about how lonely i've been.
I need to take a moment to myself.
Lyrics submitted by ChristopherAntonioLuna
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Yo La Tengo
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Punchline
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Page
Ed Sheeran
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lazarus is a biblical character who was raised from the dead, so i think the title refers to all the kids who bring up old, irrelevant things to anthony, like how he feels about saosin or why he won't play "seven years" anymore.
i can imagine how frustrating it is to apart of something successful like circa survive, yet people ask you about some band you started in high school. anthony just really doesn't care about zolof or saosin or anything he used to be in.
overall, i think the song talks about shit that don't matter, such as anthony's fame. so many people put him on a pedestal, but he's a regular guy. the whole song, anthony is saying like, i wish i wasn't famous because i don't care about that. at the end, he's thinking about how incredibly lucky he is that he gets to live his dream as a musician, but at the same time he feels really lonely because he probably can't find people who love him just for who he is.
he doesn't want to be "anthony green from circa survive!!!" and he doesn't want to be associated with things from his past, either.
yeah, your explanation makes more sense and I couldn't agree more. good job. :)
I think you're half right, it's about how people bring up the past, but I think it's more that he wants to be known from Circa Survive or his solo-project then from them or what he did with them.<br /> <br /> I don't think he'd like the fame he gets from Circa Survive, because he didn't form them, he found them and joined them, and to me that seems like he'd want to be there.<br /> <br /> the one line:<br /> "I won't be offended if no one sings,<br /> I just wanna know what that'll mean"<br /> <br /> Possibly refers to the fact that he's a musician because he loves music, not fame, but if no one likes his music, what would that mean?<br /> <br /> it's prety much the same for:<br /> "I won't be offended if no one stays,<br /> I'll just blame it all on my old age"<br /> <br /> Means that he doesn't care if he loses his fame, he'll still love music.<br /> <br /> <br /> Usually with CS lyrics, there's a hidden meaning in there, but with this one, it seems pretty solid that there's only one meaning.