"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.
Living in a 3-D world,
where the clock is in control.
He sits on his throne on top of my wrist and tells me what I know.
The devil tries to plague my mind,
but he can't quite get inside.
I'll place my jar in a burial grounds that only I can find.
Winding up the back road hill,
looking for God's acre still.
And just when I gave up, a headstone was seen near the top of the military kill.
As I hear the horses drawing close,
over all the corpses we loved most.
But I never see them.
I never see them.
There's a figure watching from the knoll.
All the myths and stories we were told,
but I never listen,
I never listen.
where the clock is in control.
He sits on his throne on top of my wrist and tells me what I know.
The devil tries to plague my mind,
but he can't quite get inside.
I'll place my jar in a burial grounds that only I can find.
Winding up the back road hill,
looking for God's acre still.
And just when I gave up, a headstone was seen near the top of the military kill.
As I hear the horses drawing close,
over all the corpses we loved most.
But I never see them.
I never see them.
There's a figure watching from the knoll.
All the myths and stories we were told,
but I never listen,
I never listen.
Lyrics submitted by bauce
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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"
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Not sure about this...
We are aware that we perceive only 3 dimensions. We speculate on others (metaphysical / spiritual) but we don't have scientific evidence that we can perceive them (although some claim they can feel spirits and stuff). Because of this people have made up myths and stories that we have all heard: God vs. Satan, Jesus Chris, the Quran, etc. AND ghosts, spirits, purgatory, poltergeists. But Powers doesn't listen and he needs to piece it together himself.
Almost all human societies (ancient and modern) have religious and spiritual questions that we explore. It seems like such an important thing, but our world is controlled by the clock. Time is money so now material things are more important than navigating the spiritual dimension...
OR
Our world is controlled by time which means we only have so long to live. So navigation of what is truth and real is important before we go.
Devil vs. God is something he actually discusses here. Second verse is about the Devil and third is about God.
I don't think that God or Devil are spirits or forces. There is no good or bad in life. It all depends on feelings, beliefs, perceptions, cultures, and natures. So I think God and Devil are paths of action and Powers is trying to figure out what is right for him and find truth to the mysteries of the universe (physical and beyond). This is a huge part of many human societies.
This might be super far out. There is noise that we here associated with our dead loved ones and the noise is getting close so we're expecting something to happen. But that expectation is never met. I really don't have any insight into what that event would be - some sort of seance to communicate with the dead, God as a spirit touching our lives, heaven maybe?
This is me clumsily trying to piece together initial first thoughts about the song while drinking beer. I think the song is Powers' search for truth about things beyond our 3 measly dimensions and piece together his own ideas about life and death. But it's hard to interpret.
THIS SONG RULES. Not as good as Raspberry Cane though.