"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 will lead a wallpaper life
Or run away to the foreign legion
I will lead a wallpaper life
Or run away to the foreign legion
And as the tanks roll into town
As the tanks roll into town
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
As the tanks roll into town
As the tanks roll into town
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive
Run until your lungs are sore
Until you cannot feel it any more
Run until your lungs are sore
Until you find an open door
I build you up to pull you down
Tie you to your feet, and watch you drown
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
I build you up to pull you down
Tie you to the stake and watch you burn in hell
I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive
I'll find another skin to wear
I'll find another skin to wear
Or run away to the foreign legion
I will lead a wallpaper life
Or run away to the foreign legion
And as the tanks roll into town
As the tanks roll into town
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
As the tanks roll into town
As the tanks roll into town
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive
Run until your lungs are sore
Until you cannot feel it any more
Run until your lungs are sore
Until you find an open door
I build you up to pull you down
Tie you to your feet, and watch you drown
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
A little bit of knowledge will destroy you
I build you up to pull you down
Tie you to the stake and watch you burn in hell
I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive
I'll find another skin to wear
I'll find another skin to wear
Lyrics submitted by shut, edited by smallwonderrobot
Cuttooth Lyrics as written by Edward John O'brien Colin Charles Greenwood
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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"
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
This is my favorite song. I've listened to it several times every day for over a year, sometimes listening to it for hours at a time. I've even written a short story inspired by it. I doubt that my interpretation was intended by Radiohead, but it seems to make sense. Here we go.
"I will lead a wallpaper life" I will spend my life trapped by walls, doing nothing of significance.
"Or run away to the foreign legion" Or I could go on an adventure to keep from wasting my life.
"As the tanks roll into town " He chose to go on an adventure by joining a military, which involved him and others in tanks wreaking havoc on a town.
"A little bit of knowledge will destroy you" The knowledge that he's destroying people's lives will destroy him.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied I don't know why I feel so skinned alive" He sees the misery he's spreading, and this knowledge is destroying him with guilt. Intellectually, though, he doesn't know why he feels guilt because he's been trained to not value his victims' lives.
"Run until your lungs are sore Until you cannot feel it any more" Keep running to a new adventure until you can't feel your guilt anymore.
"Run until your lungs are sore Until you find an open door" Keep running to a new adventure until you find a way out of your misery.
"I build you up to pull you down" I build an enemy up in my head to turn them into evil subhumans so I can torture them and feel like a hero.
"Tie you to your feet, and watch you drown" "Tie you to the stake and watch you burn in hell" He tortures people he's deemed as evil subhumans in order to feel like a hero.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied I don't know why I feel so skinned alive" Even after only harming people he believes deserve to be harmed, he still feels immense guilt.
"I'll find another skin to wear I'll find another skin to wear" I'll see things from inside someone else's skin. Seeing life from another person's perspective gives him empathy. This understand of why people do the things they do teaches him to forgive people who've done horrible things, including himself. So the line, "A little bit of knowledge will destroys you" also refers to the knowledge that other people's well-being is as valuable as his own will destroy "you", meaning his ego. By finding "another skin to wear" he has gained the empathy required to be a compassionate person.