"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.
All my rivals will see what I have in store
My gun
I've been harboring fleets in this reservoir
Red sun
And this nation's about to explode
Your disciples are riddled with metaphors
Well-hung
Better pony up and bring both your barrel fulls
Not one
As we release this unspeakable toll
How's our mother to damn these contributors
With mud?
How will the man who made chemicals difficult
Shed blood?
How's our father supposed to be told?
My gun
I've been harboring fleets in this reservoir
Red sun
And this nation's about to explode
Your disciples are riddled with metaphors
Well-hung
Better pony up and bring both your barrel fulls
Not one
As we release this unspeakable toll
How's our mother to damn these contributors
With mud?
How will the man who made chemicals difficult
Shed blood?
How's our father supposed to be told?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
this song is about columbine...it makes reference to this in the lyric page in the album booklet. the first line is the most obvious allusion to it, the rest makes sense....mostly
the columbine thing does make sense, especially with the parenthetical title of the song ("growing up gay in littleton", littleton colorado being the city in which columbine is located, if i'm not mistaken) as mentioned in the booklet. "barrels full" (as in the barrel of a gun, duh) , "unspeakable toll", etc, also make a case for that.
this is one of my favorite songs.
Im pretty sure columbine was in middleton
Does anyone have a clue to what Vedder is mumbling during the bridge of this song??
The correct lyrics are "All the stars and everyone", not "All the stars around the world."
"Rivals" (which opens with the growling of Blake's dog, Dakota) is a vengeful, ominous song that begins with the words, "All my rivals will see what I have in store."
"I just came up with the riff and we played with that for a while," Gossard said. "I kind of saw it as a cartoon exploration of competition and paranoia and people's perspective on who's out to get them. I thought of relating that to how nations deal with each other and sort of push each other around.
"And then while we were working on the album the whole Columbine High School tragedy happened and it started reflecting some of that stuff, too. So it just kind of has a weird mishmash of influences."
“Supposed to be what the Columbine Killers were thinking the night before.”
(Talking about the Binaural Head Mic) And the dog too, the dog barking right before Rival. It sounds like it's being panned back and forth really hardcore, that's just Tchad. He has a hold of the head, and he's shaking the head in front of his dog. Jeff O: That was Tchad's dog? Jeff A: Yeah. Jeff O: What's the dog's name? Jeff A: Dakota. Jeff O: Dakota. Dakota got a credit actually. Jeff A: Yeah, he did.
I always thought it was sort of thoughts from right before WWII from Japan's point of view because of the "red sun" line.
Double-0 9: I live your interpretation. It fits perfectly. Especially later with the part about the man that made "chemicals difficult". Sounds like Oppenheimer and Hiroshima.
This song is so sinister and evil. The slow gringing churn of the guitars reminds me of Not For You. But even nastier. The repeitive driving riff just sounds like the embodiment of insanity... almost makes me think of Dark Side of the Moon a little :P
And the poetic scheme makes it sound like a child's riddle. Even more evil sounding. This used to be one of the few PJ songs I literally hated. But it grew on me.
This is definitely about Columbine. The first few lines point in that general direction but one of the key lines is "How will the man who made chemicals difficult shed blood". This is about killing the chemistry teacher. Also when I saw that interview with Stone saying it was from the perspective of the night before it all connected.