"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.
A mutinous enemy carved a nascent country
Sweat, blood, and valor
Forms the grit of our history
Bequeathed to everyone:
Chance and free expression
Substance was restrained
And the spirit was broken
I feel a strange denial
Rhythmic as a change
Constance as time
Lonely
Insistent whispers
Somber as a wave bye bye
Searching for solution, without constitution
Black coats by our sides
Promising salvation
Advocating dogma as tickets to hereafter
Mortals in their prime
With their desperate hands in the air
Daunting
Complex and burning
Rythmic as change
Constant as time
Conflicts
Craving approval
Weighted as a murder trial
Oh I feel a strange denial
Correct is Consensus
Everything else, nonsense
Forward is the hope
Forget recompense
Peace and tranquility is only for the wealthy
Dearth for the masses
And inequality
I feel a strange denial
Rhythmic as change
Constant as time
Lonely
Insistent whispers
Dissipating in the night
Like a lone forgotten light
And no one is helping me
It's a strange denial
Sweat, blood, and valor
Forms the grit of our history
Bequeathed to everyone:
Chance and free expression
Substance was restrained
And the spirit was broken
I feel a strange denial
Rhythmic as a change
Constance as time
Lonely
Insistent whispers
Somber as a wave bye bye
Searching for solution, without constitution
Black coats by our sides
Promising salvation
Advocating dogma as tickets to hereafter
Mortals in their prime
With their desperate hands in the air
Daunting
Complex and burning
Rythmic as change
Constant as time
Conflicts
Craving approval
Weighted as a murder trial
Oh I feel a strange denial
Correct is Consensus
Everything else, nonsense
Forward is the hope
Forget recompense
Peace and tranquility is only for the wealthy
Dearth for the masses
And inequality
I feel a strange denial
Rhythmic as change
Constant as time
Lonely
Insistent whispers
Dissipating in the night
Like a lone forgotten light
And no one is helping me
It's a strange denial
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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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
This song is AWESOME!
Some of Greg’s best lyrics were on this record. Just amazing
This song follows the course of many others on the album which are very critical of American history and its economic system of capitalism. The "mutinous enemy" is a reference to the colonists in rebellion against Britain. The reference to the "blackcoats" means puritans and religious revivalists who are a perennial feature of American pop culture.
I'm not sure what conflicts he is referring to if not America's many wars. Perhaps he is calling attention to our ongoing political battles, and "weighted as a murder trial" is a reference to our topsy-turvy election cycle.
A strange denial of our history is taking place as we ignore the errors of our past. Ignoring the impact of slavery, we perpetuate racial injustice. Ignoring the impact of religious puritanism, we perpetuate religious bigotry, hatred of LGBT and scientific illiteracy. Ignoring the causes that led to the creation of our capitalist economy (wealth collection through wage and chattel slavery in its founding days) will perpetuate the class conflicts that make our political system dysfunctional and render our "enlightened" Constitution brain-dead.
The lonely insistent whispers are those of the homeless, addicts, punks and other "outcasts" of society.