"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.
The good Lord must have heard my prayers, because He packed up and disappeared
He took the praise and extravagant odes, and He left the sting I've been dying to know
Someone should give that old devil his due
He taught me how to love only you
I know I owe my good fortune to Him
Because He pulled me out of the trance that faith had put me in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
The Good Stranger has seen me grieve
He saw the crooked old heart on my sleeve
He took the note I had handwritten and said "Only sinners become better men"
Someone should give that old devil his due
He taught me how to love only you
I owe the love of my woman to him
Because He took her out of the grave that faith put her in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
I can't live without the blues
I can't love without the blues
I can't sleep without the blues
The devil will take his pay so we're alright
Because He pulled me out the trance that faith had put me in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
He took the praise and extravagant odes, and He left the sting I've been dying to know
Someone should give that old devil his due
He taught me how to love only you
I know I owe my good fortune to Him
Because He pulled me out of the trance that faith had put me in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
The Good Stranger has seen me grieve
He saw the crooked old heart on my sleeve
He took the note I had handwritten and said "Only sinners become better men"
Someone should give that old devil his due
He taught me how to love only you
I owe the love of my woman to him
Because He took her out of the grave that faith put her in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
I can't live without the blues
I can't love without the blues
I can't sleep without the blues
The devil will take his pay so we're alright
Because He pulled me out the trance that faith had put me in
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born
Cleansed in the water, the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for
I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I've been reborn
Down in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
Lyrics submitted by Elective Amnesia
The Blues Havin' Blues Lyrics as written by Robert Caggiano Keith Michael Buckley
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
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 song is another perfect example of Buckley's ingenuis lyrics. "I've been blessed with a broken heart since the day I was born, cleansed in the water the sons and the daughters, stripped of the sins we're destined for..." To me these lines display a paradox, a lot of us are baptized to protect of from sins that we diddnt even commit yet. However unless you are aborted at birth we are all destined to "sin" I love the line "Only sinners become better men" Its lines like these that seems simple but evoke so much thought in the listener, to me this shines light on the frustrating notion that a bad man turned good has a more favorible judge of character than someone who was just good from the start. All these lyrics are gold, I could go on forever...
Who'd have thought The Damned Things would be what they are?? Anthrax...Fall Out Boy...And they rock!
I'm pretty sure he says "Drown" in the water, the sons and the daughters, the kind of death worth living for
in the 1st chorus. the second chorus is def. Down
also i think the 1st part of the chorus refers to Christians who were baptized most likely at birth, and the second part refers to Born Again Christians, considering the "reborn" part lyric as most Born Agains refer to their life after they have been Reborn.