"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.
The twentieth century was a train
Sleek and fast and so streamlined
Steel and diesel power unchained
Cigars and oysters and black shoes shined
The twentieth century is already gone
Come to think of it the millennium is too
All those years and the buck stops here
Except I fear it's not worth as much this year
Thomas Jefferson was a man
Didn't have to grow up to be president
For no woman had to vote
Nor any man of African descent
Two thousand years of the golden rule
We still keep illegal aliens out of school
Someone's gotta wash dishes and clean toilets too
Someone's gotta play football and someone's gotta sing the blues
This little experiment of ours
Is pretty damn new and shaky so far
We have the freedom to hang out in bars
To buy shiny new guns or shiny new cars
There's no trains left to make run on time
But that's not gonna keep them from trying
How we gonna keep 'em down on Broadway
Let's try religion, sports and a lottery a day
This car screaming down the road
Rebel flag and talk show overload
Passes a school bus on the right
Racing that train to a wreck tonight
2001 candles to blow
Twenty centuries down and one to grow
Except for ten days taken away by Pope Gregory
I lost ten days in college, they didn't name a calendar after me
And this is the America Columbus discovered
Yeah the Vikings could have discovered this one too
The Indians fought the Braves in the World Series
Let's get serious and open another brew
Sleek and fast and so streamlined
Steel and diesel power unchained
Cigars and oysters and black shoes shined
The twentieth century is already gone
Come to think of it the millennium is too
All those years and the buck stops here
Except I fear it's not worth as much this year
Thomas Jefferson was a man
Didn't have to grow up to be president
For no woman had to vote
Nor any man of African descent
Two thousand years of the golden rule
We still keep illegal aliens out of school
Someone's gotta wash dishes and clean toilets too
Someone's gotta play football and someone's gotta sing the blues
This little experiment of ours
Is pretty damn new and shaky so far
We have the freedom to hang out in bars
To buy shiny new guns or shiny new cars
There's no trains left to make run on time
But that's not gonna keep them from trying
How we gonna keep 'em down on Broadway
Let's try religion, sports and a lottery a day
This car screaming down the road
Rebel flag and talk show overload
Passes a school bus on the right
Racing that train to a wreck tonight
2001 candles to blow
Twenty centuries down and one to grow
Except for ten days taken away by Pope Gregory
I lost ten days in college, they didn't name a calendar after me
And this is the America Columbus discovered
Yeah the Vikings could have discovered this one too
The Indians fought the Braves in the World Series
Let's get serious and open another brew
Lyrics submitted by ruben
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.