"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 sneak a sniff of her live wire hair.
It is bright red with random sparks.
My bionic sister teaches me inhumanity.
Parting her silver thighs and making love obsolete.
It is bright red with random sparks.
My bionic sister teaches me inhumanity.
Parting her silver thighs and making love obsolete.
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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 can see three possible interpretations:
As everyone has said, he's speaking of a robot designed to fulfill one's sexual needs. If this is the case, I have a theory regarding the usage of the word 'sister'. He could be severely emotionally stunted (which would make going to such measures understandable). He's a distant man, seeing in an android his emotional equal.
He's in a loveless relationship with a woman that he cares about, but the affection he offers isn't reciprocated. She's physically human, but she's so profoundly empty and absent of emotion that interacting with her feels like interacting with a robot. This, however, does make the sister bit confusing. Maybe she feels less like a lover, and more like a relative. There's love there, but in physical matters (sex) there's absolutely none.
They're in a loveless, physical relationship, and he's ok with that. He's cold, but nothing compared to her, and he admires her personality. "My bionic sister teaches me inhumanity" - he wishes to attain this level of indifference from his comrade, his sister in utter nihilism.