"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.
you never see what's inside of me
that's why you won't face the truth
fightin forever a fight you can't win
touchin my soul ain't like touchin my skin
open your mind don't you ever slow down
spread out your wings and reach out for the crown
it's not made out of gold
cause it's the crown of thorns
not made for human soul
ashes to ashes
thats where it ends
nobody could get more far beyond
flyin high I can see the years pass by
and I won't return to the same old places
that I've been before
is it still the same old face
I can see no more
o' see no more
out in the gutter like a fox on the run
everone's after your dreams
so did you learn your lesson well
if you did not they will send you to hell
inside your heart you will never forget
how things went wrong and made you feel so sad
but the path is to small noone's gonna hear your call
as you wander by yourself
ashes to ashes
thats where it ends
nobody could get more far beyond
flyin high I can see the years pass by
and I won't return to the same old places
that I've been before
is it still the same old face
I can see no more
o' see no more
[Solo]
flyin high....
that's why you won't face the truth
fightin forever a fight you can't win
touchin my soul ain't like touchin my skin
open your mind don't you ever slow down
spread out your wings and reach out for the crown
it's not made out of gold
cause it's the crown of thorns
not made for human soul
ashes to ashes
thats where it ends
nobody could get more far beyond
flyin high I can see the years pass by
and I won't return to the same old places
that I've been before
is it still the same old face
I can see no more
o' see no more
out in the gutter like a fox on the run
everone's after your dreams
so did you learn your lesson well
if you did not they will send you to hell
inside your heart you will never forget
how things went wrong and made you feel so sad
but the path is to small noone's gonna hear your call
as you wander by yourself
ashes to ashes
thats where it ends
nobody could get more far beyond
flyin high I can see the years pass by
and I won't return to the same old places
that I've been before
is it still the same old face
I can see no more
o' see no more
[Solo]
flyin high....
Lyrics submitted by Harmonical_Fatigue
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran
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