"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.
You had better run from me
With everything you own
'Cause I am gonna come for you
With all that I have
I am gonna break you down
To tiny, tiny parts
I never believed, but I see it now
I'm learning your lesson, I'm learning your lesson
Did it make you feel so clever
Did you wear it on your sleeve
Did you see another picture
Where I was not a part so far entwined
There's no other way, never run far
Take a good swing at me, and everything is even
So finally, we agree, no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges
I will be a gun, and it's you I'll come for
I, I, have never felt so easy
I will be a gun, and it's you I'll come for
Who are you to tell me how
To keep myself afloat
I tread the water all the while
You stuck in the knife that you held at my back
Did it make you feel so clever
Did you wear it on your sleeve
Did you see another lifetime
Where I was not a part so far entwined
There's no other way, never run far
Take a good swing at me, and everything is even
So finally, we agree, no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges
Now I'll be a gun and it's you I'll come for
Hide hide never felt so easy
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
There is no other way never run far
Take a good swing at me and everything is even
So finally, we agree no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide I, have burned your bridges
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
Hide, hide have never felt so easy
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
With everything you own
'Cause I am gonna come for you
With all that I have
I am gonna break you down
To tiny, tiny parts
I never believed, but I see it now
I'm learning your lesson, I'm learning your lesson
Did it make you feel so clever
Did you wear it on your sleeve
Did you see another picture
Where I was not a part so far entwined
There's no other way, never run far
Take a good swing at me, and everything is even
So finally, we agree, no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges
I will be a gun, and it's you I'll come for
I, I, have never felt so easy
I will be a gun, and it's you I'll come for
Who are you to tell me how
To keep myself afloat
I tread the water all the while
You stuck in the knife that you held at my back
Did it make you feel so clever
Did you wear it on your sleeve
Did you see another lifetime
Where I was not a part so far entwined
There's no other way, never run far
Take a good swing at me, and everything is even
So finally, we agree, no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges
Now I'll be a gun and it's you I'll come for
Hide hide never felt so easy
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
There is no other way never run far
Take a good swing at me and everything is even
So finally, we agree no place for promises here
You better run, you better run so
Hide, hide I, have burned your bridges
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
Hide, hide have never felt so easy
I will be a gun and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
(Oh oh) and it's you I'll come for
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
And I'm gonna see that you won't go far (oh oh)
Lyrics submitted by birman-kai
Gun Lyrics as written by Lauren Eve Mayberry Iain Andrew Cook
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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"
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
Several of the songs on "The Bones of What You Believe" reference relationships (or their complications), and I think "Gun" is one of them. The protagonist/singer has been left by someone with whom her relationship was so intense and powerful that she's on a path of pure destruction after its end - and the ex is the target. This isn't necessarily a physical act, however. The references to burning bridges and being entwined suggest that in its intensity (and the intensity of the breakup), the relationship cut off both people from others; now, alone together and mutually hurt and furious, the singer has no option but to turn her rage against her former lover.
Evil is in her nature. Shes the one who screwed it all up to begin with.