"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.
[DODGER]
Line up!
[BOYS]
Line up!
[DODGER]
Single file!
[BOYS]
Single file!
Slope arms
Left...left
Right...right...Ol! Ol!
[FAGIN]
You can go,
But be back soon
You can go,
But while you're working.
This place,
I'm pacing round...
Until you're home,
...Safe and sound
Fare thee well,
But be back soon
Who can tell
Where danger's lurking?
Do not forget this tune
Be back soon.
[BOYS]
How could we forget
How could we let
Our dear old Fagin worry?
We love him so.
We'll come back home
In, oh, such a great big
Hurry
[DODGER]
It's him that pays the piper.
[BOYS]
It's us that pipes his tune
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.
[FAGIN]
You can go
But be back soon
You can go,
But bring back plenty
Of pocket hankerchiefs
And you should be clever thieves.
Whip it quick,
and be back soon
There's a sixpence here for twenty
Ain't that a lovely tune?
Be back soon.
[DODGER]
Our pockets'll hold
A watch of gold
That chimes upon the hour
[BOYS]
A wallet fat
An old man's hat
[DODGER]
The crown jewels from the tower
We know
The Bow Street Runners,
[ALL]
But they don't know this tune.
So long, fare thee well.
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.
[FAGIN]
Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you
I love you, that why I
Say, "Cheerio"...
Not goodbye.
Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long,
Last look...
Bless you.
Remember our old tune...
Be back soon!
[BOYS]
We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today...
...Perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too
[FAGIN]
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.
[ALL]
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[FAGIN]
Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you
I love you, that why I
Say, "Cheerio"...
Not goodbye.
Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long,
Last look...
Bless you.
Remember our old tune...
Be back soon!
[BOYS]
We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today...
...Perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[OLIVER]
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[BOYS]
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
Line up!
[BOYS]
Line up!
[DODGER]
Single file!
[BOYS]
Single file!
Slope arms
Left...left
Right...right...Ol! Ol!
[FAGIN]
You can go,
But be back soon
You can go,
But while you're working.
This place,
I'm pacing round...
Until you're home,
...Safe and sound
Fare thee well,
But be back soon
Who can tell
Where danger's lurking?
Do not forget this tune
Be back soon.
[BOYS]
How could we forget
How could we let
Our dear old Fagin worry?
We love him so.
We'll come back home
In, oh, such a great big
Hurry
[DODGER]
It's him that pays the piper.
[BOYS]
It's us that pipes his tune
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.
[FAGIN]
You can go
But be back soon
You can go,
But bring back plenty
Of pocket hankerchiefs
And you should be clever thieves.
Whip it quick,
and be back soon
There's a sixpence here for twenty
Ain't that a lovely tune?
Be back soon.
[DODGER]
Our pockets'll hold
A watch of gold
That chimes upon the hour
[BOYS]
A wallet fat
An old man's hat
[DODGER]
The crown jewels from the tower
We know
The Bow Street Runners,
[ALL]
But they don't know this tune.
So long, fare thee well.
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon.
[FAGIN]
Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you
I love you, that why I
Say, "Cheerio"...
Not goodbye.
Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long,
Last look...
Bless you.
Remember our old tune...
Be back soon!
[BOYS]
We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today...
...Perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too
[FAGIN]
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.
[ALL]
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[FAGIN]
Cheerio, but be back soon.
I dunno, somehow I'll miss you
I love you, that why I
Say, "Cheerio"...
Not goodbye.
Don't be gone long
Be back soon.
Give me one long,
Last look...
Bless you.
Remember our old tune...
Be back soon!
[BOYS]
We must disappear,
We'll be back here,
Today...
...Perhaps tomorrow.
We'll miss you too
It's sad but true
That parting is such sweet sorrow.
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
And when we're in the distance
You'll hear this
Whipered tune...
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[OLIVER]
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
[BOYS]
So long, fare thee well
Pip! Pip! Cheerio!
We'll be back soon
Lyrics submitted by fallacies
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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”
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,
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.