"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.
Well you know that I'm a player, I always shoot to score
When I go home with a girl, she doesn't know what she's in for
I act like such a nice guy, but deep down I'm just a prick
I know that it's deception, but it always seems to do the trick
Well Todd's a different sort, he's nice straight to the bone
What I don't understand, he spends his Friday nights alone
It's not that girls don't like him, they all want to be his friend
Somehow they don't catch on, to the message that he's trying to send
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
Todd really likes the ladies, but he's just to shy
When they talk to him all he can do is nod a say hi
He's actually quite popular, he's on the football team
Yet his situation makes me want to scream (aahhhhhh!)
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
Todd was in the band, he played the trombone
What I don't understand, he spends his nights alone
Driving in his car, hanging with the guys
He never gets to far, I wonder wonder wonder why!
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
(Todd's nice guy, Todd's a nice guy)
If you know a Todd, ask him on a date
It might seem a little odd, but I'm sure you can relate
When I go home with a girl, she doesn't know what she's in for
I act like such a nice guy, but deep down I'm just a prick
I know that it's deception, but it always seems to do the trick
Well Todd's a different sort, he's nice straight to the bone
What I don't understand, he spends his Friday nights alone
It's not that girls don't like him, they all want to be his friend
Somehow they don't catch on, to the message that he's trying to send
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
Todd really likes the ladies, but he's just to shy
When they talk to him all he can do is nod a say hi
He's actually quite popular, he's on the football team
Yet his situation makes me want to scream (aahhhhhh!)
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
Todd was in the band, he played the trombone
What I don't understand, he spends his nights alone
Driving in his car, hanging with the guys
He never gets to far, I wonder wonder wonder why!
People always talk about Todd, and they wonder why he's blue
What they don't understand is Todd just needs a little love too
Never see him with a girlfriend, and they always wonder why
But all they can ever say is, Todd's a nice guy!
(Todd's nice guy, Todd's a nice guy)
If you know a Todd, ask him on a date
It might seem a little odd, but I'm sure you can relate
Lyrics submitted by Ken Braley
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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
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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I know a Todd....I'll ask him on a date...that would be very odd...but yeah, I can relate...WOOHOO! I'm gonna marry Lee Gordon!