"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.
Met on a train goin’ somewhere fast
He could see what she had right on
Together they build up an empire so vast
That no one and nothin’ could stop them
He looked like a man of the people
She looked high as hell at the ball
Of course they made everybody so jealous
But no one could touch ‘em et all
It was true love
What while the rabbles was restin’
They conquered the world and beyond
With each new insatiable ambition
They tested and strengthened their bond
He wasn’t nearly as driven
She wasn’t nearly as fun
But together they was quite a combination
When it come down to gettin’ it done
It was true love
True love
They amassed unspeakable fortunes and she still wasn’t satisfied
So he fell out to find what she wanted in her mind
What a hell of a ride
Bought private jet planes and castles
Took every pleasure that they could
Well good love comes with its troubles
Where things, things wouldn’t always be good
It was true love
There was a few times that she cheated
There was even some times when they split
But she upped and went and he got arrested
And she put up with it
It was drugs
Cause what mattered was keepin’ that feeling
What mattered was stayin’ on top
Some say what’s keepin’ them together so long
Is feelin’ they’ve already thought they could drop
It’s true love
True, true love
These days he’s callin’ her Brenda
That wasn’t always her name
That opened them to so many changes
As they weathered the pressures of change
Not long ago she almost lost him
Lesser man might’ve been dead
But just when she thought he might be giving up
He was back up in business instead
It was true love
Tonight I’m sure he’s in some tavern, smokin’, he’s drinkin’ it in
And I’m sure she’s holed up in that office, cruchin’ the numbers again
He’s livin’ it up while she’s workin’
I guess that’s just about right
Mick Jagger was born on a Monday morning
Keith Richards was born on a Saturday night
It was true love
It was true, it was true, it was true love
It was true, it was true love
He could see what she had right on
Together they build up an empire so vast
That no one and nothin’ could stop them
He looked like a man of the people
She looked high as hell at the ball
Of course they made everybody so jealous
But no one could touch ‘em et all
It was true love
What while the rabbles was restin’
They conquered the world and beyond
With each new insatiable ambition
They tested and strengthened their bond
He wasn’t nearly as driven
She wasn’t nearly as fun
But together they was quite a combination
When it come down to gettin’ it done
It was true love
True love
They amassed unspeakable fortunes and she still wasn’t satisfied
So he fell out to find what she wanted in her mind
What a hell of a ride
Bought private jet planes and castles
Took every pleasure that they could
Well good love comes with its troubles
Where things, things wouldn’t always be good
It was true love
There was a few times that she cheated
There was even some times when they split
But she upped and went and he got arrested
And she put up with it
It was drugs
Cause what mattered was keepin’ that feeling
What mattered was stayin’ on top
Some say what’s keepin’ them together so long
Is feelin’ they’ve already thought they could drop
It’s true love
True, true love
These days he’s callin’ her Brenda
That wasn’t always her name
That opened them to so many changes
As they weathered the pressures of change
Not long ago she almost lost him
Lesser man might’ve been dead
But just when she thought he might be giving up
He was back up in business instead
It was true love
Tonight I’m sure he’s in some tavern, smokin’, he’s drinkin’ it in
And I’m sure she’s holed up in that office, cruchin’ the numbers again
He’s livin’ it up while she’s workin’
I guess that’s just about right
Mick Jagger was born on a Monday morning
Keith Richards was born on a Saturday night
It was true love
It was true, it was true, it was true love
It was true, it was true love
Lyrics submitted by UnpopularPoet
Brenda Lyrics as written by Todd Daniel Snider
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Thanks for these Unpopular. I found this article that may help explain some of this to anyone not familiar with the trials and tribulations of The Stones.
independent.co.uk/news/people/news/keith-richards-apologises-to-mick-jagger-for-book-offence-7575284.html