"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.
morning new disease charcoal in bed / boansoaked anemic listen in horror / to the scraping of flatware and china / and saran wrap to stifle libido / air shaft a chasm their lives flung open / sickness is a time for hating your neighbors / in their milk flats with five kids too many / having day sex because they're all daughters / and you're thinking the same two things / over and over again / I am dreaming of a life and I am dreaming of waking up / there's this anger rising cancer in me standing like a wall between / the waking world I seek and this infected plane of sleep / love come like an axe to all this ice and set me free / there's a black rewarding book / beneath this stiff sheet if you look carefully / noise police white hearse tv air wave methadone / diet contact safe sex antibiotics / for your safety we've taken sharp objects / it's their object to keep you from waking / taste test serenade we dig the grave / lose weight astrologically no money down / for your enjoyment we've excised the dialogue / for your protection we've installed a camera / just keep thinking the same clean thoughts / and keep telling yourself it's allright / I am dreaming of a life / and it's not the life that's mine / in a stolen car I rocket west out past that Jersey line / and the robots in their riot gear glimmer in my rearview mirror / love came like an axe and had her way with this coarse earth / and a small deserving book she was recovered and understood / and I awoke
Lyrics submitted by PLANES
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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,
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.
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.
the best line i've ever heard: "and the robots in their riot gear glimmer in my rearview mirror." just beautiful. to me this song is talking about the disease of depression and society making it difficult to accomplish your dreams.