"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.
Did you see me falling down from Heaven
Breaking every bone I have
So I tried to touch the sun
I had another fall
You can do the math
I was wrong is what they'll say
I watched their smiles fade away
I watched their black and white turn gray
Their picture-perfect worlds decay today
Today I fell to Earth again, again
I guess I failed You
I guess I cannot win
Today, today
I fell away
I fell away
Did you see me falling down from Heaven
Trailing wings of melted wax
Accelerate
At nine point eight
Accept the fact I'm going to crash
And so-called friends have gone away
And all advice will cease to stay today
Today on fragile wings I tried to touch the sun
As wax and feathers melted
All my dreams have come undone today
You lift my battered soul
You mend my broken wings together
You lift my battered soul
You mend my broken bones together
Breaking every bone I have
So I tried to touch the sun
I had another fall
You can do the math
I was wrong is what they'll say
I watched their smiles fade away
I watched their black and white turn gray
Their picture-perfect worlds decay today
Today I fell to Earth again, again
I guess I failed You
I guess I cannot win
Today, today
I fell away
I fell away
Did you see me falling down from Heaven
Trailing wings of melted wax
Accelerate
At nine point eight
Accept the fact I'm going to crash
And so-called friends have gone away
And all advice will cease to stay today
Today on fragile wings I tried to touch the sun
As wax and feathers melted
All my dreams have come undone today
You lift my battered soul
You mend my broken wings together
You lift my battered soul
You mend my broken bones together
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
The last lines are so beautiful..."you lift my battered soul, you mend my broken bones together"...one of those lyrics that is so much more powerful because of the way it is sung. First a whisper, then sung, then a heartfelt cry. Awesome.
The song is an abstract look at a Christian falling from grace. He is frustrated at himself for another mistake, and he worries about what others will think and say. Most of all he is sorry to God for his failings. But in the bridge, he realises that no matter how far he falls, God can mend him and lift him up again.
I still dont get what the metaphor of "trying to touch the sun" means though. I know it has to do with Icarus ("trailing wings of melted wax"), but I dont know what it's supposed to mean.
OnDistantShores, I think that "trying to touch the sun" means that he's trying to attain something apart from God. He seems so driven to accomplish something, like his worth is based in achievement. He finally realizes that as he's working apart from God, he is living a lie, a sin. This is the day he realizes his pride and self-sufficiency have caused him to fall away, and only God can mend his wings and lift his soul... Only with God can we fly high enough to accomplish something great (The whole flying metaphor is reminiscent of FIF's Every New Day).
@Gonzalesaurus
Maybe you're right, but I always thought of the sun to be God. Like OnDistantShores said, he is frustrated at himself for another mistake. When he says "I fell away" meaning he has lost his close relationship with God and "fell away" to other things apart from him. But what you said was interesting and gave me a whole new perspective on the way I look at this song.