"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.
This next song we're going to dedicate to a great American
Organization. Tonight I'd like to dedicate this to our boys
In the FBI.
Well, wait a minute. It's hard to be an FBI man. I mean, first
Of all, being an FBI man, you have to be over 40 years old.
And the reason is that it takes at least 25 years with the
Organization to be that much of a bastard. It's true. You just
Can't join, you know. It needs an atmosphere where your
Natural bastardness can grow and develop and take a
Meaningful shape in today's complex society.
But that's not why I want to dedicate the song to the FBI. I
Mean, the job that they have to do is a drag. I mean, they have
To follow people around, you know. That's part of their job.
Follow me around.
I'm out on the highway and I'm drivin' down the road and I
Run out of gasoline. I pull over to the side of the road. They
Gotta pull over too - make believe that they ran out, you
Know.
I go to get some gasoline. They have to figure out whether
They should stick with the car or follow me. Suppose I don't
Come back and they're stayin' with the car.
Or if I fly on the airplanes, I could fly half fare because I'm 12
To 22. And they gotta pay the full fare. But the thing is that
When you pay the full fare, you have to get on the airplane
First, so that they know how many seats are left over for the
Half fare kids. Right? And sometimes there aren't any seats
Left over, and sometimes there are, but that doesn't mean that
You have to go.
Suppose that he gets on and fills up the last seat, so you can't
Get on. Then he gets off then you can get on. What's he gonna
Do?
Well, it's a drag for him. But that
Organization. Tonight I'd like to dedicate this to our boys
In the FBI.
Well, wait a minute. It's hard to be an FBI man. I mean, first
Of all, being an FBI man, you have to be over 40 years old.
And the reason is that it takes at least 25 years with the
Organization to be that much of a bastard. It's true. You just
Can't join, you know. It needs an atmosphere where your
Natural bastardness can grow and develop and take a
Meaningful shape in today's complex society.
But that's not why I want to dedicate the song to the FBI. I
Mean, the job that they have to do is a drag. I mean, they have
To follow people around, you know. That's part of their job.
Follow me around.
I'm out on the highway and I'm drivin' down the road and I
Run out of gasoline. I pull over to the side of the road. They
Gotta pull over too - make believe that they ran out, you
Know.
I go to get some gasoline. They have to figure out whether
They should stick with the car or follow me. Suppose I don't
Come back and they're stayin' with the car.
Or if I fly on the airplanes, I could fly half fare because I'm 12
To 22. And they gotta pay the full fare. But the thing is that
When you pay the full fare, you have to get on the airplane
First, so that they know how many seats are left over for the
Half fare kids. Right? And sometimes there aren't any seats
Left over, and sometimes there are, but that doesn't mean that
You have to go.
Suppose that he gets on and fills up the last seat, so you can't
Get on. Then he gets off then you can get on. What's he gonna
Do?
Well, it's a drag for him. But that
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
The Pause of Mr. Claus Lyrics as written by Arlo Guthrie
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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,
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.