"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.
(Meanwhile RAOUL ANDRE, FIRMIN, and MME. FIRMIN are seen making their way towards the dressing room, the MANAGERS in high spirits, bearing champagne)
ANDRE
A tour de force! No other way to describe it!
FIRMIN
What a relief ! Not a single refund!
MME. FIRMIN
Greedy.
ANDRE
Richard, I think we've made quite a discovery in Miss Daae!
FIRMIN (to RAOUL, indicating CHRISTINE 'S dressing room)
Here we are, Monsieur le Vicomte.
RAOUL
Gentlemen if you wouldn't mind. This is one visit I
should prefer to make unaccompanied.
(He takes the champagne from FIRMIN)
ANDRE
As you wish, monsieur.
(They bow and move off)
FIRMIN
They appear to have met before . . .
(RAOUL knocks at the door and enters)
RAOUL
Christine Daae, where is your scarf?
CHRISTINE
Monsieur?
RAOUL
You can't have lost it. After all the trouble I took.
I was just fourteen and soaked to the skin . . .
CHRISTINE
Because you had run into the sea to fetch my scarf.
Oh, Raoul. So it is you!
RAOUL
Christine.
(They embrace and laugh. She moves away and sits at her dressing table)
RAOUL
"Little Lotte let her mind wander . . ."
CHRISTINE
You remember that, too . . .
RAOUL (continuing)
". . . Little Lotte thought: Am I fonder of dolls . . ."
BOTH (CHRISTINE joining in)
". . . or of goblins,
of shoes . . ."
CHRISTINE
". . . or of riddles.
of frocks . . ."
RAOUL
Those picnics in the attic . . .
". . . or of chocolates . . ."
CHRISTINE
(spoken) Father playing the violin . . .
RAOUL
(spoken) As we read to each other dark stories of the North . . .
CHRISTINE
"No what I love best, Lotte said,
is when I'm asleep in my bed,
and the Angel of Music sings songs in my head!"
BOTH
"the Angel of Music sings song in my head!"
CHRISTINE (turning in her chair to look at him)
Father said, "When I'm in heaven, child, I will send the
Angel of Music to you". Well, father is dead, Raoul, and
I have been visited by the Angel of Music.
RAOUL
No doubt of it. And now we'll go to supper!
CHRISTINE
No, Raoul, the Angel of Music is very strict.
RAOUL
I shan't keep you up late!
CHRISTINE
No, Raoul . . .
RAOUL
You must change. I must get my hat. Two minutes Little Lotte.
(He hurries out)
CHRISTINE (calling after him)
Raoul!
(Quietly picking up her hand mirror)
Things have changed, Raoul.
(Tremulous music. CHRISTINE hears the PHANTOM'S voice, seemingly from behind her dressing room mirror)
PHANTOM'S VOICE
Insolent boy!
This slave of fashion
basking in your glory!
Ignorant fool!
This brave young suitor,
sharing in my triumph!
CHRISTINE (spell-bound)
Angel! I hear!
You speak I listen
stay by my side, guide me!
Angel, my soul was weak - forgive me
enter at last, Master!
PHANTOM'S VOICE
Flattering child, you shall know me,
see why in shadow I hide!
Look at your face in the mirror -
I am there inside!
(The figure of the PHANTOM becomes discernible behind the mirror)
CHRISTINE (ecstatic)
Angel of Music!
Guide and guardian!
Grant to me your glory!
Angel of Music!
Hide no longer!
Come to me, strange angel
PHANTOM'S VOICE
I am your Angel
Come to me: Angel of Music
(CHRISTINE walks towards the glowing, shimmering glass. Meanwhile, RAOUL has returned. He hears the voices and is puzzled. He tries the door It is locked)
RAOUL
Whose is that voice?
Who is that in there?
(Inside the room the mirror opens. Behind it, in an inferno of white light, stands the PHANTOM. He reaches forward and takes CHRISTINE firmly, but not fiercely, by the wrist. His touch is cold, and CHRISTINE gasps)
PHANTOM
I am your Angel of Music
Come to me: Angel of Music
(CHRISTINE disappears through the mirror, which closes behind her The door of the dressing room suddenly unlocks and swings open, and RAOUL enters to find the room empty)
RAOUL
Christine! Angel!
ANDRE
A tour de force! No other way to describe it!
FIRMIN
What a relief ! Not a single refund!
MME. FIRMIN
Greedy.
ANDRE
Richard, I think we've made quite a discovery in Miss Daae!
FIRMIN (to RAOUL, indicating CHRISTINE 'S dressing room)
Here we are, Monsieur le Vicomte.
RAOUL
Gentlemen if you wouldn't mind. This is one visit I
should prefer to make unaccompanied.
(He takes the champagne from FIRMIN)
ANDRE
As you wish, monsieur.
(They bow and move off)
FIRMIN
They appear to have met before . . .
(RAOUL knocks at the door and enters)
RAOUL
Christine Daae, where is your scarf?
CHRISTINE
Monsieur?
RAOUL
You can't have lost it. After all the trouble I took.
I was just fourteen and soaked to the skin . . .
CHRISTINE
Because you had run into the sea to fetch my scarf.
Oh, Raoul. So it is you!
RAOUL
Christine.
(They embrace and laugh. She moves away and sits at her dressing table)
RAOUL
"Little Lotte let her mind wander . . ."
CHRISTINE
You remember that, too . . .
RAOUL (continuing)
". . . Little Lotte thought: Am I fonder of dolls . . ."
BOTH (CHRISTINE joining in)
". . . or of goblins,
of shoes . . ."
CHRISTINE
". . . or of riddles.
of frocks . . ."
RAOUL
Those picnics in the attic . . .
". . . or of chocolates . . ."
CHRISTINE
(spoken) Father playing the violin . . .
RAOUL
(spoken) As we read to each other dark stories of the North . . .
CHRISTINE
"No what I love best, Lotte said,
is when I'm asleep in my bed,
and the Angel of Music sings songs in my head!"
BOTH
"the Angel of Music sings song in my head!"
CHRISTINE (turning in her chair to look at him)
Father said, "When I'm in heaven, child, I will send the
Angel of Music to you". Well, father is dead, Raoul, and
I have been visited by the Angel of Music.
RAOUL
No doubt of it. And now we'll go to supper!
CHRISTINE
No, Raoul, the Angel of Music is very strict.
RAOUL
I shan't keep you up late!
CHRISTINE
No, Raoul . . .
RAOUL
You must change. I must get my hat. Two minutes Little Lotte.
(He hurries out)
CHRISTINE (calling after him)
Raoul!
(Quietly picking up her hand mirror)
Things have changed, Raoul.
(Tremulous music. CHRISTINE hears the PHANTOM'S voice, seemingly from behind her dressing room mirror)
PHANTOM'S VOICE
Insolent boy!
This slave of fashion
basking in your glory!
Ignorant fool!
This brave young suitor,
sharing in my triumph!
CHRISTINE (spell-bound)
Angel! I hear!
You speak I listen
stay by my side, guide me!
Angel, my soul was weak - forgive me
enter at last, Master!
PHANTOM'S VOICE
Flattering child, you shall know me,
see why in shadow I hide!
Look at your face in the mirror -
I am there inside!
(The figure of the PHANTOM becomes discernible behind the mirror)
CHRISTINE (ecstatic)
Angel of Music!
Guide and guardian!
Grant to me your glory!
Angel of Music!
Hide no longer!
Come to me, strange angel
PHANTOM'S VOICE
I am your Angel
Come to me: Angel of Music
(CHRISTINE walks towards the glowing, shimmering glass. Meanwhile, RAOUL has returned. He hears the voices and is puzzled. He tries the door It is locked)
RAOUL
Whose is that voice?
Who is that in there?
(Inside the room the mirror opens. Behind it, in an inferno of white light, stands the PHANTOM. He reaches forward and takes CHRISTINE firmly, but not fiercely, by the wrist. His touch is cold, and CHRISTINE gasps)
PHANTOM
I am your Angel of Music
Come to me: Angel of Music
(CHRISTINE disappears through the mirror, which closes behind her The door of the dressing room suddenly unlocks and swings open, and RAOUL enters to find the room empty)
RAOUL
Christine! Angel!
Lyrics submitted by fallacies
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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
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,
THe lyrics are pretty much right, but that's not what happens. Must be a movie thing. Oh well- it's easier to see a moive than a musical.