"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.
Lacerating pains of degeneration speed through your trembling mind
Still, in machine-like strife, you gain another mile
The temporary, elusive goal; to reach the solace, to feed once more
Upon the synthetic reaper of loss, no matter the outcome, the cost
Cold and stinging needs tearing through the halls
Of your defile, flesh-made temple, with its closing walls
Still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow, you kneel
Control, once superior, now a docile pet at chaos' feet
Pulling the leash as it trails the scent to where all hurt recedes
Your past, a blurry patch in mind, your future once; now thin dreams filed
Toward the lights of need you strive to drink into your vein the shine
Beaten to the unforgiving ground, lashed into submission
By the inner starving demon, by its unrelenting hand
Still, you claim the worshippers pose and you bow, you kneel to the syringe
Answering only to authorities of sedation, their calls the only ones heeded
A worn out soldier touched by their contagion, a battered drone at their feet
You're the one betrayed, an outcast set afire by your inner war
Your burning self so far astray, a combustion fanned from within your core
Still, in machine-like strife, you gain another mile
The temporary, elusive goal; to reach the solace, to feed once more
Upon the synthetic reaper of loss, no matter the outcome, the cost
Cold and stinging needs tearing through the halls
Of your defile, flesh-made temple, with its closing walls
Still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow, you kneel
Control, once superior, now a docile pet at chaos' feet
Pulling the leash as it trails the scent to where all hurt recedes
Your past, a blurry patch in mind, your future once; now thin dreams filed
Toward the lights of need you strive to drink into your vein the shine
Beaten to the unforgiving ground, lashed into submission
By the inner starving demon, by its unrelenting hand
Still, you claim the worshippers pose and you bow, you kneel to the syringe
Answering only to authorities of sedation, their calls the only ones heeded
A worn out soldier touched by their contagion, a battered drone at their feet
You're the one betrayed, an outcast set afire by your inner war
Your burning self so far astray, a combustion fanned from within your core
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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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
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.
This song is about addiction to heroin. The lyrics all make sense in that context.
Lacerating pains of degeneration speed through your trembling mind Still, in machine-like strife you gain another mile The temporary elusive goal. To reach the solace to feed once more upon the synthetic reaper of loss. No matter the outcome the cost ----The first line describes the feeling of the drug itself, while the rest describes the endless cycle of reaching that elusive high.
Cold and stinging needs tearing throught the halls of your defiled. fleshmade temple with it's closing walls still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow. You kneel ----One word: withdrawal
Control: Once superior now a docile pet at chaos feet Pulling the leash as it trails the scent to where all the hurt recedes Your past a blurry patch in mind. Your future once: now thin dreams filed Towards the lights of need you strive--to drink into your vein the shine. ----The addict is a slave to the drug. "Shine" is a nickname for heroin.
Beaten to the unforgiving ground. lashed into submission-- by the inner starving demon. By it's unrelenting hand Still you claim the worshippers pose and you bow. You kneel to the syringe ----Once again, withdrawal
Answering only to the authorities of sedation. Their calls the only ones heeded A worn out soldier touched by their contagion. A battered drone at their feet You're the only one betrayed. An outcast set afire by your inner war Your burning self so far astray. A combustion fanned from within your core. ----Describes how a long period of addiction demoralizes and breaks down one's spirit and fuels anger at onself.
I agree, except I think there's more in the last line. <br /> <br /> "Your burning self so far astray. A combustion fanned from within your core." <br /> <br /> It's not just demoralization, it's self-destruction that can't be stopped.
best interpretation. I knew this was it! ;-)
I thought it was about heroin as well. It's really about alcohol ( "A Stengah is a drink made from a half measure of Whisky and Soda Water, served over ice.[1] It was a popular drink with British subjects in the early 20th century, in areas of the British Empire in Asia.[2] The term derives from the Malay word for 'half'.[3]")
Shine is actually referring to alcohol, moonshine. "Drink"