"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.
lower your voice and be recognized. i, of course, see no reason to reply. give me my just desserts give me my recognition, that proof. remain closed to all of those who dare to remain unchanged by your words. pull back the hammer and take aim. and shoot yourself in the foot, shoot everyone else in the foot. rid us all of meaning. the credit seems to be all yours. and you're sure of your strength once more.
(and all could be dismissed with "whatever, it's cool" and you could argue that it must be good or violent or irrelevant, but it isn't really any of those, and i guess i hate that attitude more than anything)
don't shoot, don't show. push harder the plastic forks under my nails. things don't turn like this even in our wildest dreams. what exactly is that smile? what is that smile on your face supposed to mean?
"we both know i've got those thoughts and words too, but i guess i don't give them enough use"
[one] "go back where you came from, i don't care, please go right now!"
[other] "i wish i could but i seem to have forgotten how"
there are a few truths, and here's just one: i'm as fucked up about as much as you're fucked up. but beyond that there are only grasped straws and our own private perceived flaws. where's that gun? we should both use it. doomed from the start. committed to failure. simply mirrors all? rejected selves live to fall.
(and all could be dismissed with "whatever, it's cool" and you could argue that it must be good or violent or irrelevant, but it isn't really any of those, and i guess i hate that attitude more than anything)
don't shoot, don't show. push harder the plastic forks under my nails. things don't turn like this even in our wildest dreams. what exactly is that smile? what is that smile on your face supposed to mean?
"we both know i've got those thoughts and words too, but i guess i don't give them enough use"
[one] "go back where you came from, i don't care, please go right now!"
[other] "i wish i could but i seem to have forgotten how"
there are a few truths, and here's just one: i'm as fucked up about as much as you're fucked up. but beyond that there are only grasped straws and our own private perceived flaws. where's that gun? we should both use it. doomed from the start. committed to failure. simply mirrors all? rejected selves live to fall.
Lyrics submitted by szorko
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
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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.
WHY THE FUCK ISN'T THIS CD RELEASED YET!?
OR WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I FIND IT?