"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.
I met a woman from another time
I couldn't think
But a drink from her eyes
Was like water to wine
She wet my dreams with her distinctive mind
I search the desert for a treasure
And a measure of life denied
I'm driven by cars and guitars and her voice
Ripping up and down my spine
And now I'm giving my life for her sight
To be mine
And in her presence
My fate unwinds
For when her essence
Draws me too near
I can taste her with tears
On my tongue
Like the sun
In my mouth.
I met a man who kicked my front door down
He blew in with the Santa Ana winds
And a half cocked hound
He fits my body like a one horse town
And I was drunk like a vagabond on his street
And I lay face down
And I rode his joy like a child on a merry-go-round
I was young in his eyes
I was sweet on his thighs
I was profound
I was shot like a free bird in flight
To the ground.
I woke this morning from a deadly dream
He was my lover he was my filler
He was my chocolate-colored killer
He was me
I'm built to run
My will is to deceive
But you penetrate severely
I am walking insecurely
On my knees
And I will wait through Winter, Spring and Summer
If you'll Fall in love with me
I will dance so slowly
You will hardly know I
Breathe
From Rome
To Madrid
To Paris
On the breeze
My scent will find you
Lost by degrees
From time to time you'll
Sing
With my lips
Or my hands
On your hips
Or my tongue
Like the sun
In your mouth
I couldn't think
But a drink from her eyes
Was like water to wine
She wet my dreams with her distinctive mind
I search the desert for a treasure
And a measure of life denied
I'm driven by cars and guitars and her voice
Ripping up and down my spine
And now I'm giving my life for her sight
To be mine
And in her presence
My fate unwinds
For when her essence
Draws me too near
I can taste her with tears
On my tongue
Like the sun
In my mouth.
I met a man who kicked my front door down
He blew in with the Santa Ana winds
And a half cocked hound
He fits my body like a one horse town
And I was drunk like a vagabond on his street
And I lay face down
And I rode his joy like a child on a merry-go-round
I was young in his eyes
I was sweet on his thighs
I was profound
I was shot like a free bird in flight
To the ground.
I woke this morning from a deadly dream
He was my lover he was my filler
He was my chocolate-colored killer
He was me
I'm built to run
My will is to deceive
But you penetrate severely
I am walking insecurely
On my knees
And I will wait through Winter, Spring and Summer
If you'll Fall in love with me
I will dance so slowly
You will hardly know I
Breathe
From Rome
To Madrid
To Paris
On the breeze
My scent will find you
Lost by degrees
From time to time you'll
Sing
With my lips
Or my hands
On your hips
Or my tongue
Like the sun
In your mouth
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
I adore the last verse of this song.