"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.
I am the one who guided you this far,
All you know and all you feel.
Nobody must know my name
For nobody would understand,
And you kill what you fear,
And you fear what you don't understand.
I call you for I must leave,
You're on your own until the end.
There was a choice but now it's gone,
I said you wouldn't understand,
Take what's yours and be damned.
All you know and all you feel.
Nobody must know my name
For nobody would understand,
And you kill what you fear,
And you fear what you don't understand.
I call you for I must leave,
You're on your own until the end.
There was a choice but now it's gone,
I said you wouldn't understand,
Take what's yours and be damned.
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Duke's Travels Lyrics as written by Mike Rutherford Anthony George Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
Some of the most powerful lyrics in music! Think about it:
"I am the one who guided you this far, All you know and all you feel. Nobody must know my name For nobody would understand, And you kill what you fear, And you fear what you don't understand."
Spiritual guidance for for the first two lines ... GOD,Allah, Buddha etc. figure it out by now ... who is it? We cannot comprehend. The powerful part is in the last two lines of this stanzas ... the most powerful lyrics in music to me. Not necessarily a break up, but EVERYTHING!
Kill = Hate
Hate for a country Hate for another culture Hate for another person Hate for a subject in school Hate to an ex Etc. etc.
I believe it is about ignorance and misunderstanding (coincidence song title on Duke) We all say we hate things, but what I believe is that we don't necessarily hate those things, but we don't understand them ... therefore we "kill" them with words, actions, writing, whatever.
It then comes back in full circle ...
"I call you for I must leave, You're on your own until the end. There was a choice but now it's gone, I said you wouldn't understand, Take what's yours and be damned."
Your beliefs call you back from all this hatred, or you are so far gone that you can't. YOU MUST ANSWER FOR THEM! YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE! Sometimes we couldn't understand what our true meaning is/was, but we still have to answer for them ... take your hatred ... and you WILL be damned.
Tiny loop compared to "One for the Vine", but a loop without a doubt.
Paraphrasing Genesis, they did not want the Duke Suite to be another "Supper's Ready". They split it up. Take your IPOD and make a playlist with:
Behind the Lines Duchess guide Vocals Turn It On Again Duke's Travels Duke's End
It makes more sense that way: Good vs. Evil
Thanks for the insight. Its funny how their lyrics seem very simple at times, like about a breakup or a chick or whatever, but then there are interpretors like you who add a very deep, often disturbing but ultimately intriguing explanation.