"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.
Mighty as the river flows
Patient as a flower as she grows
Love takes time, the road forever winds
But always leads me back to you
I guess I always knew all this
I could see the future in that first kiss
And touch by touch our love would grow
But it would take some time before we'd know
Start the music, light the candles
Take me back to the lace and sandals
Two scared kids standing at the altar
Trying to look grown up on that first day
On our way to everlasting love
It's funny how the times race by
Days turn into years in the blink of an eye
Through triumph and tears, through time and tide
You've always made my heart stand still
Start the music, light the candles
Take me back to the lace and sandals
Two scared kids standing at the altar
Trying to look grown up on that first day
On our way to everlasting love
On mainstreet down backroads
We traveled light to ease the load
With just our love and a tattered road map
And faith to guide us home
Start the music, light the candles
Renew our vows in lace and sandals
Those two scared kids trembling at the altar
Are standing strong and tall
Now we thank you for this dream we're living
Clinging to what God has given
We sing the song we heard from high above
On that first day, on our way to everlasting love
Patient as a flower as she grows
Love takes time, the road forever winds
But always leads me back to you
I guess I always knew all this
I could see the future in that first kiss
And touch by touch our love would grow
But it would take some time before we'd know
Start the music, light the candles
Take me back to the lace and sandals
Two scared kids standing at the altar
Trying to look grown up on that first day
On our way to everlasting love
It's funny how the times race by
Days turn into years in the blink of an eye
Through triumph and tears, through time and tide
You've always made my heart stand still
Start the music, light the candles
Take me back to the lace and sandals
Two scared kids standing at the altar
Trying to look grown up on that first day
On our way to everlasting love
On mainstreet down backroads
We traveled light to ease the load
With just our love and a tattered road map
And faith to guide us home
Start the music, light the candles
Renew our vows in lace and sandals
Those two scared kids trembling at the altar
Are standing strong and tall
Now we thank you for this dream we're living
Clinging to what God has given
We sing the song we heard from high above
On that first day, on our way to everlasting love
Lyrics submitted by Octavarium64
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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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,