"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've been driving around too much
I've been cold and confused like riverside rush
You floated up and away after the parade
And did she tell you not to speak to me?
As if a winter in exile would set you free
I know I dirtied the plan
But you were the sun, the rain and the superman
And it's time to let you fly
I've been pacing up and down with no reply
It's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
I knew all along to be near you was wrong
But you got into my veins till I wasn't the same
East coast angel
East coast angel
And are you holding up falling stars?
For a while there was a room that was only ours
In the darkened hotel light
There was a peace to the things that were not right
And it's time to let fly
Though you showed me the glow of the runway lights
Now it's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
I knew all along to be near you was wrong
But you got into my veins till I wasn't the same
East coast angel
East coast angel
We shouldn't have flown so high to the sky
And melt in each other's eyes
It's a long way down from that heavenly sound
To this place where I'm screaming out loud
Yeah
East coast angel
East coast angel
And it's time to let fly
Though you showed me the glow of the runway lights
Now it's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
Miss me when you hear me on the radio
I've been cold and confused like riverside rush
You floated up and away after the parade
And did she tell you not to speak to me?
As if a winter in exile would set you free
I know I dirtied the plan
But you were the sun, the rain and the superman
And it's time to let you fly
I've been pacing up and down with no reply
It's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
I knew all along to be near you was wrong
But you got into my veins till I wasn't the same
East coast angel
East coast angel
And are you holding up falling stars?
For a while there was a room that was only ours
In the darkened hotel light
There was a peace to the things that were not right
And it's time to let fly
Though you showed me the glow of the runway lights
Now it's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
I knew all along to be near you was wrong
But you got into my veins till I wasn't the same
East coast angel
East coast angel
We shouldn't have flown so high to the sky
And melt in each other's eyes
It's a long way down from that heavenly sound
To this place where I'm screaming out loud
Yeah
East coast angel
East coast angel
And it's time to let fly
Though you showed me the glow of the runway lights
Now it's time to let you go
Maybe you'll miss me when you hear me on the radio
Miss me when you hear me on the radio
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More Featured Meanings
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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I don't really know what to say about this song other then I think it may be her best yet. But songs like this mad and green goodnight and serenade make me think the same when I hear them. I just love her. Emms music gets me through the day.