"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.
Aych ay see two (half a canyon too)
Increase Mather told her dad, yeah
"I roundly disagree with you
You're vocal style's to preachy
All the yokels mock your teaching."
But Cotton, he was just so oblivious
To all their cutting pleas
Soon the townfolk took to it,
In every pew they looked to him
For guidance just like eyeless lambs
Awaiting that ol' kabob stand
The skeptics formed
The nation's born
They want to have it, Cotton's dream
But Increase had them mounted
And they burned on open fires
So the word spread just like small pox
In the Sudan
The gentry cried:
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
Years and years have passed
Since the puritans invaded our soul
Just like those Arab terrorists
You'll never know
But today the gods can't make us quake,
We see our lives as situations
Eyes are eyes and teeth are teeth,
Well mine are rotten underneath
I got two ways we can separate from the clan
If I could fly, I could fry
I hope you profited from this bulletin
And it stabilized your land
You're drenched, you're fired,
(You gentrified?)
Your Alzheim clan, but
Your father is another one of them
I don't want to mention him again, cause
I talked to him last night,
He hates my guts
We had a fight
And he called you a slut girl,
Why's that?
What did you do to him to make him think
Increase Mather told her dad, yeah
"I roundly disagree with you
You're vocal style's to preachy
All the yokels mock your teaching."
But Cotton, he was just so oblivious
To all their cutting pleas
Soon the townfolk took to it,
In every pew they looked to him
For guidance just like eyeless lambs
Awaiting that ol' kabob stand
The skeptics formed
The nation's born
They want to have it, Cotton's dream
But Increase had them mounted
And they burned on open fires
So the word spread just like small pox
In the Sudan
The gentry cried:
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
"Give it a day!"
Years and years have passed
Since the puritans invaded our soul
Just like those Arab terrorists
You'll never know
But today the gods can't make us quake,
We see our lives as situations
Eyes are eyes and teeth are teeth,
Well mine are rotten underneath
I got two ways we can separate from the clan
If I could fly, I could fry
I hope you profited from this bulletin
And it stabilized your land
You're drenched, you're fired,
(You gentrified?)
Your Alzheim clan, but
Your father is another one of them
I don't want to mention him again, cause
I talked to him last night,
He hates my guts
We had a fight
And he called you a slut girl,
Why's that?
What did you do to him to make him think
Lyrics submitted by summerbabe
Give It a Day Lyrics as written by Stephen Malkmus
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Hey, prettyrad...sorry it took me so long to get around to correcting the "CAN'T make us quake" error -- there's ALWAYS some nuance in an SM lyric that goes (sometimes badly) misinterpreted, until the day you're mashing avocados to make guacamole, then accidentally get jalapeno juice in your eye, which causes you to suddenly, inexplicably make sense of some Pavement lyric that had baffled you for years. It's just the way it works, you know what I mean. Anyways, thanks! :-D