"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.
She says she's read too many fashion magazine
She's forgotten what real love is like
And as the basement collects more kids off the street
They smoke themselves to death waiting for the band to begin
They have been tuning up there for an hour now
And I don't think I can stand another minute more
But just then the first chord strums
And the drums set in
And I know what I have been waiting around for
Because no one's going home until the morning comes
No one's going to sleep until the sun comes up
Did you hear those first two songs?
They were fucking touch
And the band is not going to stop until the cops show up
So hold your applause until the end
And wait for the sadness to set in
Because that's the only feeling that's worth it
He say he's done with the pop music scene
There's too many opinions and so few are worth a shit
He has got to learn to act a little more mean
Because the mean ones always end up with the record deals
And it is only when I'm angry that I feel complete
When we are screaming at each other is when I am most happy
I hang out with my friends and then I get depressed
And I drink myself to sleep with any strength that is left
And I quit going to church a year ago
And my teachers think that my faith is gone
But I can do with the eucharist because I found god
In a solid Jackson song
She's forgotten what real love is like
And as the basement collects more kids off the street
They smoke themselves to death waiting for the band to begin
They have been tuning up there for an hour now
And I don't think I can stand another minute more
But just then the first chord strums
And the drums set in
And I know what I have been waiting around for
Because no one's going home until the morning comes
No one's going to sleep until the sun comes up
Did you hear those first two songs?
They were fucking touch
And the band is not going to stop until the cops show up
So hold your applause until the end
And wait for the sadness to set in
Because that's the only feeling that's worth it
He say he's done with the pop music scene
There's too many opinions and so few are worth a shit
He has got to learn to act a little more mean
Because the mean ones always end up with the record deals
And it is only when I'm angry that I feel complete
When we are screaming at each other is when I am most happy
I hang out with my friends and then I get depressed
And I drink myself to sleep with any strength that is left
And I quit going to church a year ago
And my teachers think that my faith is gone
But I can do with the eucharist because I found god
In a solid Jackson song
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
solid jackson is a band. i have the spend an evening with saddle creek DVD, and it talks about other bands in omaha before saddle creek was formed, and it showed all of these pictures. and there was a picture of a band, and it said solid Jackson really big. one of the better songs on that album too.
I saw Conor play this in Seattle recently (on the 5th of April) and it was absolutely amazing. The fact that he wrote this when he was 15 is just incredible. Great song to here LIVE!
i can't believe that anybody could be so talented to write something like this so young. fuckin' a.
Conor is certainly amazing and it shines through on this song. It's so blunt with its points and yet it drives really deep.
tizonic, you were at the show at the showbox? that was an awesome show, i went to it too. that was my favorite song from the set, solid jackson rules.
I like it more live than recorded, probably because the quality of recording sucks so bad...it makes me think about my youth (I'm 25, but I mean...it makes me think about my teenage years), and once again it's all about catharsis.
also it's like the "naive" sum of all the recurrent bright eyes themes. sort of like a blueprint. not as great as other songs of his, but with all the elements that make those songs great thematically speaking. it's like a "potential" great Bright Eyes song.
...my teacher was talking about slang, and how in his grandad's day solid jackson meant cool. I've never heard that saying before.
I've heard the saying before. And I think this song is really fun, and I laughed when I first heard, "did you hear those first two songs? they were fucking tuff", just cause it reminded me of the hXc scene.
"she says she's read too many fashion magazine she's forgotten what real love is like."
wow. this song makes me so intensely, extremely happy.