"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.
Baby Jane, don't leave me hangin' on the line
I knew you when you had no one to talk to
Now you're moving in high society
Don't forget, I know secrets about you
I used to think you were on my side
But now I'm no longer sure
I wish I knew what I know now before
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
Baby Jane, don't it make you feel sad
Just when I thought that we were winning
You and I were so close in ev'ry way
Don't time fly when you're loving and laughing
I've said goodbye so many times
The situation ain't all that new
Optimism's my best defense
I'll get through without you
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
I won't be that dumb again
I know it's gotta last forever
When I fall in love again
I know it's gonna last forever
Baby Jane, I've said all I want to say
Go your own way, don't think twice about me
'Cause I've got ideas and plans of my own
So long darling, I'll miss you, believe me
The lesson learned was so hard to swallow
But I know that I'll survive
I'm gonna take a good look at myself and cry
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
When I fall in love again
I know it's gotta last forever
I won't be that dumb again
I know it's gonna last forever
I knew you when you had no one to talk to
Now you're moving in high society
Don't forget, I know secrets about you
I used to think you were on my side
But now I'm no longer sure
I wish I knew what I know now before
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
Baby Jane, don't it make you feel sad
Just when I thought that we were winning
You and I were so close in ev'ry way
Don't time fly when you're loving and laughing
I've said goodbye so many times
The situation ain't all that new
Optimism's my best defense
I'll get through without you
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
I won't be that dumb again
I know it's gotta last forever
When I fall in love again
I know it's gonna last forever
Baby Jane, I've said all I want to say
Go your own way, don't think twice about me
'Cause I've got ideas and plans of my own
So long darling, I'll miss you, believe me
The lesson learned was so hard to swallow
But I know that I'll survive
I'm gonna take a good look at myself and cry
When I give my heart again
I know it's gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it's gonna last forever
When I fall in love again
I know it's gotta last forever
I won't be that dumb again
I know it's gonna last forever
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Little Feat
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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”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
"I won't be that dumb again". Ha! Famous last words said a dozen times.