"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.
Tell me my life is about to begin
Tell me that I am a hero
Promise me all of your violent dreams
Light up your body with anger
Now, in this ugly world
It is time to destroy all this evil
Now, when I give a word
Get ready to fight for your freedom
Now
Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
I'll give you the names of those you must kill
All must die with their children
Carry their heads to the palace of old
Hang them high, let the blood flow
Now, in this ugly world
Break all the chains around us
Now, the crusade has begun
Give us a land fit for heroes
Now
Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom (Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom)
We are only wanting freedom (Things are getting out of control here today)
We are only wanting freedom (OK men, fire over their heads!)
We have won
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
Tell me that I am a hero
Promise me all of your violent dreams
Light up your body with anger
Now, in this ugly world
It is time to destroy all this evil
Now, when I give a word
Get ready to fight for your freedom
Now
Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
I'll give you the names of those you must kill
All must die with their children
Carry their heads to the palace of old
Hang them high, let the blood flow
Now, in this ugly world
Break all the chains around us
Now, the crusade has begun
Give us a land fit for heroes
Now
Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom (Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom)
We are only wanting freedom (Things are getting out of control here today)
We are only wanting freedom (OK men, fire over their heads!)
We have won
Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
The Knife Lyrics as written by Anthony Phillips Anthony Banks
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
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.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Peter Gabriel said in an 80s interview, looking back, that this was "a great showstopper", and their early shows often finished with it. But it's also easy to hear this as a kind of statement against the cult of all kinds of avantgarde terror groups (the Baader-Meinhof group, the Weathermen etc) and guerillas which flourished around 1970. I think the group knew this on some level.