"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.
We're caught in a landslide
The minutes come tumbling down
And into an hour's time
Within which a day's worth of work
Must be planned out and pan out
For every week to be worth
The weekends of downtime
And months of ennui that kills
And years of resentment
Of everyone's contentment, and you
Can't justify it, still
I tell you my reasons
You don't tell me your inside jokes
Until I've gone bitter on
Every word that you've spoken
And all of your kind words
Amounting to naught but a token
And all their inaction
Will tumble away with the days
And nights of together
As we're really not together at all
But parallel
Now I'm walking on downtown
In a town that is not my home
And shopping for breakfast
To be eaten all alone
And dreaming of houses
None of them that I own
But that's not my province
That's not for what I am known
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong
So go to your downtown
And bring what you've brought back home
And you never should worry
Your hours will now be as long
As the days that you hurried
And months when it all seemed wrong
And all of the action
Will tumble away with the years
And parallel evenings
And parallel tracks of our tears
And nights of together are where?
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong
The minutes come tumbling down
And into an hour's time
Within which a day's worth of work
Must be planned out and pan out
For every week to be worth
The weekends of downtime
And months of ennui that kills
And years of resentment
Of everyone's contentment, and you
Can't justify it, still
I tell you my reasons
You don't tell me your inside jokes
Until I've gone bitter on
Every word that you've spoken
And all of your kind words
Amounting to naught but a token
And all their inaction
Will tumble away with the days
And nights of together
As we're really not together at all
But parallel
Now I'm walking on downtown
In a town that is not my home
And shopping for breakfast
To be eaten all alone
And dreaming of houses
None of them that I own
But that's not my province
That's not for what I am known
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong
So go to your downtown
And bring what you've brought back home
And you never should worry
Your hours will now be as long
As the days that you hurried
And months when it all seemed wrong
And all of the action
Will tumble away with the years
And parallel evenings
And parallel tracks of our tears
And nights of together are where?
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong
Lyrics submitted by Lerxs
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Magical
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
this song is about a relationship that crumbled because they weren't completely open, and at first satisfied, with eachother. they become sick of eachother, but don't want to end it because it's as close to love as either of them has ever been, and they're afraid of losing it and never gaining anything better. he takes the first step, though, and ends it; saying that they're not truly happy with eachother, but they can't stay together in hopes of greener grass on the other side. he feels that he wasted too much of his life on something that didn't truly satisfy his hunger for loving, and being loved in return. he tells her not to be too upset, because it'll get better. she'll forget about him, the pain will erase, and she'll find someone else who will truly make her happy.
I wish more people understood the complete fing genius of Ted Leo. Not only does he write the lyrics and melody, he directs the band to what he wants, and no one can even comprehend his remarkable creative power. Most miss the message in his songs because maestro is symbolic, and it may be hard to catch such insightful words...most mistake his songs as sappy, relationship bullsht. F*ck! Sorry, I just wish everyone could see.
He is talking about ALL people's relationships with EVERYONE, and their own lives. He is talking about social discontentment and discontentment people have in life and our absence in effort to really change what we do that makes everything so miserable. He is planning to use his words "all the little pieces of a song" to fit all of us together. When he says we are not "together" but "parallel", it is because we don't truly feel for each other...we only speak words with no backing, we do nothing to end our discontentment.
Ted Leo's lyrics are usually far deeper than a first guess, so really mull them over before you end an opinion...becuase he isn't just complaining about a girl breaking up with him...he's trying to create world peace and happiness and betterment for all. I love Ted Leo and everyone, EVERYONE, EVERYONE!!!!!!! must listen and learn from the absolute smartest person I have never met, unfortunately.
Ted, if you ever see this, I want you to know that you are my #1hero! I love you and your beautiful brain and voice and ah, everything!
basically, time was wasted on a relationship between two people who were too similar and led the same lives.
Did anyone notice this being played on "How I Met Your Mother" 11/7/2005?
Ted Leo crafts a beautiful atmosphere with this song. The music has a manic quality that really reinforces the unusual combination of desperation and resignation in the lyrics. The narrator is thinking about the futility of being in a relationship with someone with whom he has fallen out of love, and also the emptiness of planning and hurrying without having anything fulfilling to come home to. He at least finds some redemption in writing songs.
This song seems packed with ideas. The idea of hurrying and planning, but having nothing to show for it, is something that I can really relate to. I also understand being in a semi-loveless relationship and feeling trapped, and having to resort to other things to feel fulfilled. The houses he is dreaming of are houses full of people he could have loved and lives he could have led, but didn't.
Greatest Ted Leo song ever...
Which means its one of the greatest songs ever by default.
its about a relationship that lost its love and instead of living together they end up living parallel lives. the singer feels like he's wasted time on the relationship
Agreed with the people above me, but at the end, he finds solace in his songs and guitar playing.
Ted Leo is genius distilled down to purity. I've always felt that this was his most underappreciated song. In case anyone else wants help with the word ennui:
en·nui n. Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom.
hey prilla1206, i dont mean to sound like a dickhead, but try to use your head more when you use your head. have you ever thought that maybe a song can be interpreted in more than one way? i always thought that the f*ing genius of an artist isnt just about what a certain song means, but in how it can mean any amount of things to any amount of people. and ill agree with you his music is genius. it really is. ok im better.
In addition to many other things, this song to me refers to people who say they are "together," i.e. in a relationship, but in reality they are just living parallel lives. Sure, parallel lines can be very close, but by definition they will never actually touch or intersect. This can be applied to pretty much any human relationship, really.