"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.
Never thought that I knew too much
I always thought I knew enough
I didn't want to learn this stuff
I didn't ever want to be that tough
But love was just implied
And everything else died
This class has now begun
In murder 101
You can learn it in the first degree
You could even make yourself believe
That you'll never even think of me
When you're packing up your things to leave
Now my intuition failed
I can't graduate unskilled
They don't excuse the young
This is murder 101
Find yourself another heart that needs a rest
Tie a hook onto a single thread
Drop it down beneath the chest
There's the first part of this test
They'll grade you on a curve
They're including everyone
No matter what you've heard
You know this class has now begun
Drop out before they come
To murder one by one
Just look what we've done
In murder 101
Just look what we've done
In murder 101
Just look what we've done
This is murder 101
Just look what we've done
To murder one by one
I always thought I knew enough
I didn't want to learn this stuff
I didn't ever want to be that tough
But love was just implied
And everything else died
This class has now begun
In murder 101
You can learn it in the first degree
You could even make yourself believe
That you'll never even think of me
When you're packing up your things to leave
Now my intuition failed
I can't graduate unskilled
They don't excuse the young
This is murder 101
Find yourself another heart that needs a rest
Tie a hook onto a single thread
Drop it down beneath the chest
There's the first part of this test
They'll grade you on a curve
They're including everyone
No matter what you've heard
You know this class has now begun
Drop out before they come
To murder one by one
Just look what we've done
In murder 101
Just look what we've done
In murder 101
Just look what we've done
This is murder 101
Just look what we've done
To murder one by one
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More Featured Meanings
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"
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
So I think this song has to do with love and inexperience. In other words, how badly you mess things up when you're young and new to relationships, how it's practically murder the mistakes you make.
But that's just my cursory take on it. Anyone else?
I always interpreted this song (for myself) as a commentary on education & society, although I could be taking his metaphor too literally. I actually really like therealsvenden's interpretation and think it fills in gaps that mine doesn't.
I had the idea that we live in a culture in which we are constantly bombarded by information (I always thought I knew enough/I didn't want to learn this stuff) and we're expected to go through years upon years of schooling before we can secure an income (I can't graduate unskilled/They don't excuse the young/This is Murder 101).
Everyone is evaluated against massive standards (They'll grade you on a curve/They're including everyone) and life has taken on a quicker pace (Find yourself another heart that needs a rest).
Anyone else have other interpretations?
@museschild yeah, I have the same interpretation, maybe I was being too literal but ok.
@museschild yeah, I have the same interpretation, maybe I was being too literal but ok.
I tend to agree with the first comment on this song
"I always thought I knew enough/I didn't want to learn this stuff/I didn't ever want to be that tough/But love was just implied/And everything else died"
Here the subject is claiming that he thought he knew enough about love, but what he knew was the romantic view of it. He didnt want to learn the bad side of love. This might be a little bit of a blind stab, but to me "Murder 101" is a metaphor for learning of heartache, breakup, and despair when it comes to love.
"You can learn it in the first degree/You could even make yourself believe/That you'll never even think of me/When you're packing up your things to leave"
Here he seems to be talking about a previous lover who left him, and that this person is learning some of the material for "Murder 101"
"Find yourself another heart that needs a rest/Tie a hook onto a single thread/Drop it down beneath the chest/There's the first part of this test"
Here the author seems to be explaining to his former lover how to continue to be a better heart breaker and pass "Murder 101." By finding another heart that has been battered, and becoming attached to that new person just as the author was attached to this person.
"Drop out before they come/To Murder one by one"
All I can figure from this is that he is telling me people to avoid these people while you can. If you do not these heart-breakers will "murder" one's idea of love one-by-one.
woow. no comments for three and a half years! i really had no idea what this song is about, actually i was looking for someone else to tell me, but there's only one comment.... in which case i agree with therealsvenden