"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'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator
I'm the fear addicted, a danger illustrated
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm the bitch you hated, filth infatuated, yeah
I'm the pain you tasted, fell intoxicated
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm the self inflicted, mind detonator, yeah
I'm the one infected, twisted animator
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter starter
I'm the fear addicted, a danger illustrated
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm the bitch you hated, filth infatuated, yeah
I'm the pain you tasted, fell intoxicated
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm the self inflicted, mind detonator, yeah
I'm the one infected, twisted animator
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter starter
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
What is the song all about? ”Keith’s personality. The song is Keith’s personality. That’s it. Plain and simple. A lot of people can relate to different lyrics in that song but I know when he was writing that song, he was talking about himself. Like the lyric mind detonator. Speaking about Keith. He’ll think about something until it just does his head in so much that it’ll be a big problem. Keith thinks a lot; he thinks too much, you know. He used to smoke too much weed. He’s calmed down now. Mind detonator is a lyric that just describes Keith really well.” – Liam.
@trphg I am sure this good some media flak because it was believed it would incite arson attacks ...<br /> <br /> Thanks for finding the comment by Liam about the lyrical meaning. All seems to fit very nicely.
this is a protest song -set against the backdrop of the butt-end of Tory government years. a protest against all the wasted years and confrontation. the pain and alienation of a generation. the whole album is a protest. this song is surely one of the most disturbing and sinister distilations of all that had happened in the previous 15 years prior to its release. it could now be tony blairs anthem - the firestarter, the warmonger, the one infected, the twisted animator. a great song for any generation.
@quaich14 I'll give you a thumbs up just for your "thinking outside the box" comment. Or should I give you some more straws to grasp??
The song is more about egotic, self praising, agressive about one self
Actually, I think that this song is applicable not only from political standpoint. I think it's about mechanisms of manipulation through media in general. We all know how little is necessary to make a big deal out of anything - you just need to push the right buttons of the viewer and the right buttons are "the fear addicted", "the pain you tasted" and the way to push the buttons is "danger illustrated", "the bitch you hated" etc. Together, it results in "the self inflicted, mind detonator" that is just a set of mind of a person strongly influenced by all this triggers... I presume that no one is spared - everyone got some influence, it's just a question of how much. Great song. Especially if I'm right :)
In the "The Fat of the Land" album this song comes after "Narayan". This is a part of the spiritual "B" side of the tape, which transmits a powerful message - mind shift is comming and I am the one who brings it. Times were different back in 95...
I never knew that, where are you getting all these interviews from?
lol im suprised that guy went to all the effort to cut and paste that, but good on him. Do these songs really need meaning though? they are cool beats with wicked random lyrics
Legend song, if you like it you will love Ebeneezer Goode by The Shamen
Yeah i always thought they were random
haha i used to sing this song when i was 5
everyone thought o was weird
lol yeh this song is about Keith Flint...end of
i wonder if he caused any fires? hmmmm