"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.
(Greetings, earthlings)
From the bottom of my lungs a nigga be blowin', spittin' his game
Comin' up on ya from the South, the A-T-Liens ain't changed
Cooler than most players claim to be
A nigga that's from the A-Town see
The home of the Bankhead Bounce, Campbellton Road and other city streets
Enough of the verality, fallacy, butter we speak not fiction
Speakin' of pullin' yo' girl lookin' at Jheri curls you bitches
Every time I rhyme for y'all, I'm lookin' to prove a point
Kickin' a freestyle every now and then
But mostly after joint
See I smoke good cause see it go good wit them flows, why
The nigga the B-I-G like Tony Rich nobody knows why
But me and my folks, cause y'all niggas jokes like the joker
I'm sick of these wack ass rappers like I'm tired of hoes in chokers
Who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm, we just drop bombs
Askin' where we come from, South Post slums
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
This ol' sucka MC stepped up to me
Challenged Andre to a battle and I stood there patiently
As he spit and stumbled over clichés, so called freestylin'
Whole purpose just to make me feel low, I guess you wilin'
I say, "Look boi, I ain't for that fuck shit, so fuck this"
Let me explain on this child style so you don't miss
I grew up to myself not 'round no park bench
Just a nigga bustin' flows off in apartments
Now who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm, we just drop bombs
Askin' where we come from, South Post slums
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It goes chromes to the Fleetwoods, coupes to the 'Villes
Hittin Girbauds and off these flows we havin' the player chill
In this atmosphere this ain't no practice here we cuttin' the fool now
I'm doin' ya at the house and throwin' you out because I'm through now
Don't you love the way we claimin' Bankhead, stankhead
Lookin' around the SWATS for the herb that's never tainted
Fainted when you heard the bourbon servin' on the block
And all you bitin' individuals need to check yourself and stop
Yeah tight like nuts and bolts, sluts and hoes that get evicted
I'm dealin' with Queens in my castle ain't worth it to risk it
Now tricks be lookin' at me like I'm they way up out the pro-jects
Can't put you on my payroll, and no I ain't got no Rolex
Or no diamond at the exit with a sign sayin' "We'll rap for food"
My face is bawled up 'cause I ain't in a happy mood
While my partner got the squeegee and the Windex
'Cause somewhere in my life I done went wrong just like a syntax
Error, bring the terror to your dome like P.E.
Prone to finish this out because this be a free-style (ow, oh)
Now who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm
We just drop
From the bottom of my lungs a nigga be blowin', spittin' his game
Comin' up on ya from the South, the A-T-Liens ain't changed
Cooler than most players claim to be
A nigga that's from the A-Town see
The home of the Bankhead Bounce, Campbellton Road and other city streets
Enough of the verality, fallacy, butter we speak not fiction
Speakin' of pullin' yo' girl lookin' at Jheri curls you bitches
Every time I rhyme for y'all, I'm lookin' to prove a point
Kickin' a freestyle every now and then
But mostly after joint
See I smoke good cause see it go good wit them flows, why
The nigga the B-I-G like Tony Rich nobody knows why
But me and my folks, cause y'all niggas jokes like the joker
I'm sick of these wack ass rappers like I'm tired of hoes in chokers
Who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm, we just drop bombs
Askin' where we come from, South Post slums
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
This ol' sucka MC stepped up to me
Challenged Andre to a battle and I stood there patiently
As he spit and stumbled over clichés, so called freestylin'
Whole purpose just to make me feel low, I guess you wilin'
I say, "Look boi, I ain't for that fuck shit, so fuck this"
Let me explain on this child style so you don't miss
I grew up to myself not 'round no park bench
Just a nigga bustin' flows off in apartments
Now who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm, we just drop bombs
Askin' where we come from, South Post slums
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It's just two dope boys in a Cadillac
It goes chromes to the Fleetwoods, coupes to the 'Villes
Hittin Girbauds and off these flows we havin' the player chill
In this atmosphere this ain't no practice here we cuttin' the fool now
I'm doin' ya at the house and throwin' you out because I'm through now
Don't you love the way we claimin' Bankhead, stankhead
Lookin' around the SWATS for the herb that's never tainted
Fainted when you heard the bourbon servin' on the block
And all you bitin' individuals need to check yourself and stop
Yeah tight like nuts and bolts, sluts and hoes that get evicted
I'm dealin' with Queens in my castle ain't worth it to risk it
Now tricks be lookin' at me like I'm they way up out the pro-jects
Can't put you on my payroll, and no I ain't got no Rolex
Or no diamond at the exit with a sign sayin' "We'll rap for food"
My face is bawled up 'cause I ain't in a happy mood
While my partner got the squeegee and the Windex
'Cause somewhere in my life I done went wrong just like a syntax
Error, bring the terror to your dome like P.E.
Prone to finish this out because this be a free-style (ow, oh)
Now who them boys that be havin' the crunk every occasion
This side niggas dustin', that side niggas lacin'
But in the middle we stay calm
We just drop
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Fast Car
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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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
That's "Southport Slums".