"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.
Ladies and gentlemen, Presenting the outrageous
I'm music without limelight, A guitarist without stages
I'm a Hells Angel without the Harley Davidson
You're a golden state warrior without Antawn Jamison
I'm your last laugh without a punchline
I'm a fistfight in your high school halls at lunchtime
I'm dangerous like car wrecks without that drunk driver
I'm that island that traps you and votes you off like survivor
I'm MacGyver without a red switchblade, I'm man-made
Graffiti on the walls without the aerosol spray
I'm a 30-second delay without the time limit
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
I'm that gold chain ready to be snatched from your neck
I'm that AIDS virus when you don't practice safe sex
I'm that hole in your latex that made your whole world crash
The most dangerous three letter word is Yas
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
I'm your last bit of oxygen, I'm Waco Texas
I'm a 13-year-old kid stealing your Lexus
I'm a trilogy without the second and third sequels
I'm a crash test dummy without the smashed up vehicle
I'm everything you dream of, I'm life without death
I'm a respirator holding on to your last breath
I'm Bill Gates' Microsoft without Silicon Valley
I'm a natural born killer without Mickey or Mallory
You're a chair being thrown around at a Bobby Knight practice
I'm a cross between rival gangs and celebrity death matches
I attack this like pythons, I'm a living icon
You wanna see the apocalypse? Then turn my mic on
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up (I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it)
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up (I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it)
I'm music without limelight, A guitarist without stages
I'm a Hells Angel without the Harley Davidson
You're a golden state warrior without Antawn Jamison
I'm your last laugh without a punchline
I'm a fistfight in your high school halls at lunchtime
I'm dangerous like car wrecks without that drunk driver
I'm that island that traps you and votes you off like survivor
I'm MacGyver without a red switchblade, I'm man-made
Graffiti on the walls without the aerosol spray
I'm a 30-second delay without the time limit
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
I'm that gold chain ready to be snatched from your neck
I'm that AIDS virus when you don't practice safe sex
I'm that hole in your latex that made your whole world crash
The most dangerous three letter word is Yas
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
I'm your last bit of oxygen, I'm Waco Texas
I'm a 13-year-old kid stealing your Lexus
I'm a trilogy without the second and third sequels
I'm a crash test dummy without the smashed up vehicle
I'm everything you dream of, I'm life without death
I'm a respirator holding on to your last breath
I'm Bill Gates' Microsoft without Silicon Valley
I'm a natural born killer without Mickey or Mallory
You're a chair being thrown around at a Bobby Knight practice
I'm a cross between rival gangs and celebrity death matches
I attack this like pythons, I'm a living icon
You wanna see the apocalypse? Then turn my mic on
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
One, two, one, two
I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, nobody can do it like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up, let's get it on like this
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up (I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it)
Somebody back-up (there's no room to stand up)
Stop and throw your hands up (I'm a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it)
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
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Gentle Hour
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
American Town
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to me this song is 2 oposite peopel that need each other.. ones missing something that the other has which makes something so perfect... i just pulled this cd out like 10 mins ago and i love it just as much as when i first heard it