"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.
When the ship runs out of ocean
and the vessel runs aground
Land's where we know the boat is found
Now there's nothing unexpected
about the water running out
"Land's" not a word we have to shout
But there's something beside the shoreline
coming up from the shipwreck
moving across the beachhead
Making as if to say:
Women & Men
Bringing with them messages of love
and everywhere they go love will grow
When you see the faces of the women
and the men, you too will know
Women & Men have crossed the ocean
They now begin to pour
out from the boat and up the shore
Two by two they enter the jungle
and soon they number more
Three by three as well as four by four
soon the stream of people gets wider
then it becomes a river
river becomes an ocean
carrying ships that bear
Women & Men
and the vessel runs aground
Land's where we know the boat is found
Now there's nothing unexpected
about the water running out
"Land's" not a word we have to shout
But there's something beside the shoreline
coming up from the shipwreck
moving across the beachhead
Making as if to say:
Women & Men
Bringing with them messages of love
and everywhere they go love will grow
When you see the faces of the women
and the men, you too will know
Women & Men have crossed the ocean
They now begin to pour
out from the boat and up the shore
Two by two they enter the jungle
and soon they number more
Three by three as well as four by four
soon the stream of people gets wider
then it becomes a river
river becomes an ocean
carrying ships that bear
Women & Men
Lyrics submitted by Irrational
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
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Dusty Springfield
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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.
or maybe it's just about a small ship of people arriving at a new, unpopulated place, and how it eventually becomes full and whatnot, due to traditional human behaviors... who knows? i tend to take it literally.
good song, regardless.