"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.
Mightly waves come crashing down,
The spray is lashing high into the eagle's eye
Shrieking as it cuts the devil wind,
is calling sailors to the deep
But I can hear the sound of seabirds in my ear
Surf is high an' the sea is awash
An' a haze of candy floss, glitter and beads
Rock that we sat on and watched in the sun
That was hot to touch
And the sea was emerald green
I can hear the sound of seabirds in my ear
And I can see you smile
Surf comes rushing up the beach
Now will it reach the castle waal and will it fall
Catfish dappled silver flashing
Dogfish puffing bubbles in my deep
The spray is lashing high into the eagle's eye
Shrieking as it cuts the devil wind,
is calling sailors to the deep
But I can hear the sound of seabirds in my ear
Surf is high an' the sea is awash
An' a haze of candy floss, glitter and beads
Rock that we sat on and watched in the sun
That was hot to touch
And the sea was emerald green
I can hear the sound of seabirds in my ear
And I can see you smile
Surf comes rushing up the beach
Now will it reach the castle waal and will it fall
Catfish dappled silver flashing
Dogfish puffing bubbles in my deep
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Silent Planet
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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American Town
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
The first poem (the animal poem) is a good one, and much better than the song (the version with the people talking over it). The song, as written and recorded by Pink Floyd (without the voices) is one of the hardest to get PF songs ever. It's included on some rare bootlegs, but I don't know what version it is.
The second poem reminds me of Final Cut lyrics. You wrote, "a series of 10ish poems that I wrote against the Iraq war, nuclear war, political corruptness, the Holocaust, George Bush, and the entire human race", so it fits in with the Final Cut theme. I think it criticizes Bush and the war in an intelligent way. Great!