"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.
29 - For the first time in my life, I see it clearly
I realize the power of being a woman
Twenty nine years old and time’s on my side
I'm in my prime, I've hit my stride
I got so much charisma, and so many options
It's nice to always have my pick
31 -There's nobody left, I'm all alone
29 - I'm at the top of my game
Possibilities are endless, and I just feel really pretty
I'm holding out for someone who meets my standards
Won't settle for anything less than perfect
I know what I want and I can have have it
I'm surrounded by love and peace
31 - There's nobody left, I'm all alone
Why did I wait, what's wrong with me?
In two short years, I'm gonna be 33
Who the hell who want me then, my ovaries are shrinking
I'm disgusting and everyone feels bad for me
And I never get invited to dinner parties anymore
29 - Things unfold when they're supposed to
Cause everything happens for a reason
It’ll happen for me when I'm not even looking
He'll just appear and I'll just know
And he'll love me forever without any work
Who needs to try when things are meant to be
31 (29) -There's nobody left (I'm a catch just look at me)
I'm all alone (I'm smart and hot and have lots of interests)
You're such an idiot (The man of my dreams is definitely out there)
You think you're so special because people tell you that now (He's my future, he's the one, he was put on this Earth to make my life complete)
But that will stop and be replaced with looks of pity (The world is a buffet of love)
31 - Oh, what, you think biological reality doesn't apply to you
And your adorable cocoon of agelessness, well it does
While you're just waiting around and focusing on you
Guess what, you're gonna miss your window!
29 -Everything happens for a reason, you know I truly believe that
31 - Yeah you said that before
29 - Oh my God, it does so, everything happens for a reason
31 - What about the Haitian earthquake or cellulite on skinny woman
29 - Just say: Hey universe, I'm ready, it'll happen when you least expect it
31 - Well I don't expect it at all now, so I guess it's right around the corner
29 - Maybe you're putting the wrong vibe, maybe you're closed off to love
29 - Let me tell you a secret, it's call a secret
31 - Here's another secret, you're an asshole
29 - Your negativity is self-fulfilling prophecy, the reason things go well for me is cause of positivity
31 - Well I'm positive fertility always begins to atrophy, when infantile fantasy eclipses true reality
29 - It never once occurred to me that things won't work out perfectly, when God closes a door you see, he opens a window
31 - You realize that’s a smaller opening, right?
You used to be able to walk out a door
And now you have to climb out some slightly ajar window somewhere
Possibly falling like 8 stories to your death, that is not an upgrade
And you know what's else
31 (29) - here's nobody left (7 billion people on the planet)
I'm all alone (My options will never ever run out)
I hate you (I'm so happy, aren't you happy)
You're so stupid (I'm so happy)
29 (31) You can't love someone else 'till you love yourself x4 (AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
29 - Cause life is
(29-good)(31-over)
I realize the power of being a woman
Twenty nine years old and time’s on my side
I'm in my prime, I've hit my stride
I got so much charisma, and so many options
It's nice to always have my pick
31 -There's nobody left, I'm all alone
29 - I'm at the top of my game
Possibilities are endless, and I just feel really pretty
I'm holding out for someone who meets my standards
Won't settle for anything less than perfect
I know what I want and I can have have it
I'm surrounded by love and peace
31 - There's nobody left, I'm all alone
Why did I wait, what's wrong with me?
In two short years, I'm gonna be 33
Who the hell who want me then, my ovaries are shrinking
I'm disgusting and everyone feels bad for me
And I never get invited to dinner parties anymore
29 - Things unfold when they're supposed to
Cause everything happens for a reason
It’ll happen for me when I'm not even looking
He'll just appear and I'll just know
And he'll love me forever without any work
Who needs to try when things are meant to be
31 (29) -There's nobody left (I'm a catch just look at me)
I'm all alone (I'm smart and hot and have lots of interests)
You're such an idiot (The man of my dreams is definitely out there)
You think you're so special because people tell you that now (He's my future, he's the one, he was put on this Earth to make my life complete)
But that will stop and be replaced with looks of pity (The world is a buffet of love)
31 - Oh, what, you think biological reality doesn't apply to you
And your adorable cocoon of agelessness, well it does
While you're just waiting around and focusing on you
Guess what, you're gonna miss your window!
29 -Everything happens for a reason, you know I truly believe that
31 - Yeah you said that before
29 - Oh my God, it does so, everything happens for a reason
31 - What about the Haitian earthquake or cellulite on skinny woman
29 - Just say: Hey universe, I'm ready, it'll happen when you least expect it
31 - Well I don't expect it at all now, so I guess it's right around the corner
29 - Maybe you're putting the wrong vibe, maybe you're closed off to love
29 - Let me tell you a secret, it's call a secret
31 - Here's another secret, you're an asshole
29 - Your negativity is self-fulfilling prophecy, the reason things go well for me is cause of positivity
31 - Well I'm positive fertility always begins to atrophy, when infantile fantasy eclipses true reality
29 - It never once occurred to me that things won't work out perfectly, when God closes a door you see, he opens a window
31 - You realize that’s a smaller opening, right?
You used to be able to walk out a door
And now you have to climb out some slightly ajar window somewhere
Possibly falling like 8 stories to your death, that is not an upgrade
And you know what's else
31 (29) - here's nobody left (7 billion people on the planet)
I'm all alone (My options will never ever run out)
I hate you (I'm so happy, aren't you happy)
You're so stupid (I'm so happy)
29 (31) You can't love someone else 'till you love yourself x4 (AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
29 - Cause life is
(29-good)(31-over)
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.