"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.
Ah oh hey hey
Ah oh ah oh
I say, hey boy sitting in your tree
Mummy always wants you to come for tea (ah oh)
Don't be shy, straighten up your tie
Get down from your tree house sitting in the sky (ah oh)
I want to know just what to do
Is it very big, is there room for two
(Ah oh)
I got a house with windows and doors
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
Gotta let me in, hey hey hey
Let the fun begin, hey
I'm the wolf today, hey hey hey
I'll huff, I'll puff
I'll huff, I'll puff, I'll blow you away
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
See'est la vie
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will, hey)
Say you're true, say to me (get a life)
See'est la vie
Do you play with the girls, play with the boys?
Do you ever get lonely playing with your toys? (ah oh)
We can talk, we can sing
I'll be the queen and you'll be the king (ah oh)
Hey boy, in your tree
Throw down a ladder, make room for me (ah oh)
I got a house with windows and doors
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
Gotta let me in, hey hey hey
Let the fun begin, hey
I'm the wolf today, hey hey hey
I'll huff, I'll puff
I'll huff, I'll puff, I'll blow you away
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me (yeah)
See'est la vie (oh)
Say you will, say you won't (say you will)
Say you'll do what I don't (oh, say you will)
Say you're true, say to me (what are you like?)
See'est la vie
Hey hey
Na na na, hey
Na na na, oh
Na na na, hey
Hey hey hey hey
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
Want to say
See'est la vie
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
(I fight like my dad as well)
See'est la vie
Na na na, hey
Na na na, oh
See'est la vie
Na na na, hey
Hey hey
See'est la vie (hey hey
Ah oh ah oh
I say, hey boy sitting in your tree
Mummy always wants you to come for tea (ah oh)
Don't be shy, straighten up your tie
Get down from your tree house sitting in the sky (ah oh)
I want to know just what to do
Is it very big, is there room for two
(Ah oh)
I got a house with windows and doors
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
Gotta let me in, hey hey hey
Let the fun begin, hey
I'm the wolf today, hey hey hey
I'll huff, I'll puff
I'll huff, I'll puff, I'll blow you away
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
See'est la vie
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will, hey)
Say you're true, say to me (get a life)
See'est la vie
Do you play with the girls, play with the boys?
Do you ever get lonely playing with your toys? (ah oh)
We can talk, we can sing
I'll be the queen and you'll be the king (ah oh)
Hey boy, in your tree
Throw down a ladder, make room for me (ah oh)
I got a house with windows and doors
I'll show you mine if you show me yours
Gotta let me in, hey hey hey
Let the fun begin, hey
I'm the wolf today, hey hey hey
I'll huff, I'll puff
I'll huff, I'll puff, I'll blow you away
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me (yeah)
See'est la vie (oh)
Say you will, say you won't (say you will)
Say you'll do what I don't (oh, say you will)
Say you're true, say to me (what are you like?)
See'est la vie
Hey hey
Na na na, hey
Na na na, oh
Na na na, hey
Hey hey hey hey
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
Want to say
See'est la vie
Say you will, say you won't
Say you'll do what I don't (say you will)
Say you're true, say to me
(I fight like my dad as well)
See'est la vie
Na na na, hey
Na na na, oh
See'est la vie
Na na na, hey
Hey hey
See'est la vie (hey hey
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
C'est la Vie Lyrics as written by Dennis Earle Lambert Brian Potter
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
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The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
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Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
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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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.