"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.
Heaven bend to take my hand and lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight
Truth be told, I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear
Though I've tried
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better, I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me, "I told you so"
We all begin with good intent
When love was raw and young
We believe that we can change ourselves
The past can be undone
But we carry on our back, the burden time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Oh
Heaven bend to take my hand
I've nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh, they turn their heads, embarrassed
Pretend that they don't see
That it's one missed step, one slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed
Though I've tried
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Oh
I've messed up
Better, I should know
Don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight
Truth be told, I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear
Though I've tried
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better, I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me, "I told you so"
We all begin with good intent
When love was raw and young
We believe that we can change ourselves
The past can be undone
But we carry on our back, the burden time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Oh
Heaven bend to take my hand
I've nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh, they turn their heads, embarrassed
Pretend that they don't see
That it's one missed step, one slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed
Though I've tried
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Oh
I've messed up
Better, I should know
Don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Lyrics submitted by thewhitepony33, edited by slairess
Fallen Lyrics as written by Sarah Mclachlan
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Mountain Song
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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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.
I think this song is mostly about giving up on life, after so many attempts to lead a "perfect" life, the person just says, "I'm through", "I tired of caring", "I'm done with life."
This is the perfect song for giving up. Its realizing youve lost everything about yourself.
To me it's about trying for something you really wanted and failing miserably and dealing with that failure...
"The lonely light of morning The wound that would not heal It's the bitter taste of losing everything That I have held so dear..."
these are some of the most beautifully sung lyrics i've ever heard
I think it's a song about screwing up royally.
A lot of us (well, since most of you are teenagers you really haven't had much experience in meaningful relationships) have been in a situation where we try and do the right thing and just completely fuck it up.
Or what we thought was right at the time, and we end up just alienating every one of our friends because we end up being the shit-head in the relationship.
"I'm lost to those I thought were friends To everyone I know Oh they turned their heads embarassed Pretend that they don't see"
It's a cascading failure of always saying the wrong thing, but never really meaning too.
I think the beauty of this song is the fact so many people with so many different situations can relate to the lyrics. Personally I have a VERY different meaning than other people have mentioned here... Before I share my interpretation of the song I would just like to comment on myztikalspyril, you say that she doesn't believe in heaven/hell - If you are refering to the song 'Dear God' please do your research...she didn't write that song! She wrote this one.
The opeing lines are the most powerfull..'heaven bent to take my hand'... it is not only God or angels taking her hand, but the ENTIRE heaven...she has found heaven to be her only refuge...in ANY situation.
Personally, I think this song is about getting out of a long-term abusive relationship and trying to start over. In an abusive relationship, you end up distancing yourselves from friends and family, and keep making the same mistakes repeatedly until you finally have enough and move on. I think this is about looking back on it and realizing all the mistakes that have been made and realizing there's nobody left now that she's moved on.
I know a lot of you are young and not that experienced in life, but this is a song about coping with addiction (probably alcoholism). A lot of the consequences of addiction and themes of 12 step recovery are present directly in the lyrics. First is an acknowledgment that a "higher power" is required for recovery (read the first verse). Addicts/alcoholics try everything but usually fail many times in their search to break the addiction. The allure of the drug, drink, food, sex, gamble, or whatever the problem is overwhelming (second verse). Their addiction is the wound that would not heal, the burden carried on their backs, that, in time, is revealed the next time an opportunity to drink or use presents itself. Addicts/alcoholics engage in regrettable behavior and often lose family, friends, jobs, everything they "held so dear". Lastly, there's the use of the words "missed step" (i.e. of the 12 steps, can't skip any of them) and "you'll slip". A "slip" is exactly how addicts/alcoholics refer to prohibited behavior (i.e. taking a drink).
Nice interpretations everyone. But to a recovering addict, there's no mistaking what this song is about.
@bonodog really?? As an alcoholic, I've found every other interpretation, for this.. profound and refreshing (so far). Minimizing others and using your (our) addiction, in a condensing/shameful/obtuse way is far from okay.
this song is about looking at your life and suddenly realizing that everything you once held dear is now completely gone-especially the people you thought were your friends- and blaming yourself for messing up somewhere along the way to end up the way you are now...beautiful song.
My interpretation of this song is that it is about a woman in a relationship gone sour. Something happened in a past relationship which she is not proud of. By starting a new, innocent relationship she thought that it was all behind her and she could start anew, but her past came flying back (maybe she had an affair) leading to the destruction of her new relationship, leading to her hitting rock bottom. She's lost all of her friends, her relationship and she feels like it is all her fault and she has lost everything that mattered in her life.