"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.
Of course I picked a rainy night
To try to find our past
The street lights all were flickering
The leaves were falling fast
I walked down the winding road
Looked up through the trees
And I saw the corner window
That you once shared with me
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
That you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
That fall turned into winter
The winter into spring
And all the while, you led me through
The sweet awakening
But summer never came that year
It's what you went to find
And you took my future with you
And you left your past behind
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
That you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
I remember you
As if
It were
Today
To try to find our past
The street lights all were flickering
The leaves were falling fast
I walked down the winding road
Looked up through the trees
And I saw the corner window
That you once shared with me
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
That you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
That fall turned into winter
The winter into spring
And all the while, you led me through
The sweet awakening
But summer never came that year
It's what you went to find
And you took my future with you
And you left your past behind
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
That you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
I remember you
As if
It were
Today
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Fast Car
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Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
This song was about Harry's experience in college with a girl (Either the Air Force Academy or Cornell University, I don't remember which)