"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.
The spirit of Fatima still rules the Earth
She knows your future, she knows what it's worth
Sister Fatima has God-given powers
And on 42nd Street a shop that sells flowers
Is her palace, come and be healed
She knows all your business, your health and your ills
She'll counsel your weddings, divorces and wills
For full restoration five dollars an hour
And with each consultation a free holy flower
And if she likes you, well you can have two
And I came from nowhere like you and your friend
My searching and wandering went on without end
My future was dim, my spirit was crushed
In one sacred moment my questions were hushed
I'm a servant of fate in this garden of truth
A humble recruit of the taffeta booth
Where all things are known but few are revealed
Sins are forgotten and sickness is healed
For five dollars the flower is free
She knows your future, she knows what it's worth
Sister Fatima has God-given powers
And on 42nd Street a shop that sells flowers
Is her palace, come and be healed
She knows all your business, your health and your ills
She'll counsel your weddings, divorces and wills
For full restoration five dollars an hour
And with each consultation a free holy flower
And if she likes you, well you can have two
And I came from nowhere like you and your friend
My searching and wandering went on without end
My future was dim, my spirit was crushed
In one sacred moment my questions were hushed
I'm a servant of fate in this garden of truth
A humble recruit of the taffeta booth
Where all things are known but few are revealed
Sins are forgotten and sickness is healed
For five dollars the flower is free
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
I'll comment, but I can't say much other than: What does it mean? This song gave me chills when I first heard it in 1977, but I've never understood it. Is it about saviors who hide in plain sight (like a flower shop)? Is she a nun? A prostitute (from long ago when five dollars was the going rate)?
It surprises me that nobody has commented on this song. In my opinion one of the most memorable songs of Don McLean's. It is a narrative story rather than a surreal story and it is primarily non-emotional and non-intellectual. It's more an auditrory painting, an aestetic experience. But I think it is a great portrait of the sixties.
The ‘taffeta booth’ is the giveaway. Taffeta was the clothing of prostitutes in England for centuries and is often used by Shakespeare with that implication. Take, for example, Falstaff's "fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta". Pushing the boat out a bit, Our Lady of Fatima is a Portuguese Catholic reference to the Virgin Mary. What we seem to have is a classic Madonna/Whore paradox - the sacred (God given powers) and the profane (a shop that sells flowers). For five dollars (money for sex) you think you have something beautiful (a holy flower). Just don’t ask what she’s thinking (your questions are hushed and few things revealed). It’s a shop. The flower wasn’t free.
@Seesaw67 <br /> I think you're reading way too much into this<br /> The illustration included with this song in the original songbook pictured Fatima as a black, inner-city nun.
Like much of Maclean’s 70s work there is often meaning piled on meaning and often not easily accessible but always interesting and sung with that very melodic expressive voice….. often the beauty is in the uncertainty….. the prostitute notion certainly works and the juxtaposition of the sacred and profane, the good and the bad, is a common theme in his work. This is a beautiful wistful sad song and I can’t say with certainty it’s exact meaning or indeed if it has one but it moves me and I feel the better for having heard it.