"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.
Moonlight on the water, the sound of the ocean
Sitting by myself, I'm reflecting in the sand
Remembering the younger days
I've gone back to where it all began
Everything is drifting away
Throughout midnight's tide
There I first walked through eden
And saw the painted october sky for the first time
I knew it was where I wanted to be
I knew it was where I wanted to stay
I will never forget what was born by a dream
I will never let go of what was given to me
I will never forget when I opened my eyes
To see what I was destined to be
Yesterday I returned to eden
I saw myself as a child outside at play
With a look of content- not a care in the world
So unprepared for the darkness that would fall down upon him
I can't change the past, so why even try?
The future is drifting through midnight's tide
As a child he was scared of tomorrow
Wasting many yesterdays being afraid
The spark of life never fueled the flame
Before long, the fire had faded away
I can't change the past, so why even try?
Here I am in eden today under the october sky again
Seeing myself face to face at last
Making my peace after so many years have passed
He knew who I was but he was so scared
And so afraid of what I may say
I remember his sadness and feeling his fear (again)
With every question, he shed so many more tears
I can feel your pain like it was yesterday
But don't you be afraid, it will not last forever
I can tell you nothing more for I would change what will be
Just know that one day, all of your pain will end
And you will be free
Sitting by myself, I'm reflecting in the sand
Remembering the younger days
I've gone back to where it all began
Everything is drifting away
Throughout midnight's tide
There I first walked through eden
And saw the painted october sky for the first time
I knew it was where I wanted to be
I knew it was where I wanted to stay
I will never forget what was born by a dream
I will never let go of what was given to me
I will never forget when I opened my eyes
To see what I was destined to be
Yesterday I returned to eden
I saw myself as a child outside at play
With a look of content- not a care in the world
So unprepared for the darkness that would fall down upon him
I can't change the past, so why even try?
The future is drifting through midnight's tide
As a child he was scared of tomorrow
Wasting many yesterdays being afraid
The spark of life never fueled the flame
Before long, the fire had faded away
I can't change the past, so why even try?
Here I am in eden today under the october sky again
Seeing myself face to face at last
Making my peace after so many years have passed
He knew who I was but he was so scared
And so afraid of what I may say
I remember his sadness and feeling his fear (again)
With every question, he shed so many more tears
I can feel your pain like it was yesterday
But don't you be afraid, it will not last forever
I can tell you nothing more for I would change what will be
Just know that one day, all of your pain will end
And you will be free
Lyrics submitted by Octavarium64
Midnight's Tide Lyrics as written by L. Dean Harris Gordon Tittsworth
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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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"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
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”
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
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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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.