"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.
There's people talking,
They talk about me,
They know my name,
They think they know everything,
But they don't know anything about me
Give me a dance floor,
Give me a DJ,
Play me a record,
Forget what they say
'Cause I need to go,
Need to getaway tonight
I put my makeup on a Saturday night,
I try to make it happen,
Try to make it alright,
I know I make mistakes,
I'm living life day to day,
It's never really easy but it's okay
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
The city's restless,
It's all around me,
People, emotions,
Sick of all the same routines,
And they need to go,
They need to getaway, tonight
I put my makeup on a Saturday night,
I try to make it happen,
Try to make it alright,
I know I make mistakes,
I'm living life day to day,
It's never really easy but it's okay
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
People all around,
Everywhere that you go,
People all around you,
They don't really know you,
Everybody's watching like it's some kind of show,
Everybody's watching they don't really know you now,
(They don't really know you, they don't really know you)
And forever
Wake up, wake up,
Wake up, wake up
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
They talk about me,
They know my name,
They think they know everything,
But they don't know anything about me
Give me a dance floor,
Give me a DJ,
Play me a record,
Forget what they say
'Cause I need to go,
Need to getaway tonight
I put my makeup on a Saturday night,
I try to make it happen,
Try to make it alright,
I know I make mistakes,
I'm living life day to day,
It's never really easy but it's okay
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
The city's restless,
It's all around me,
People, emotions,
Sick of all the same routines,
And they need to go,
They need to getaway, tonight
I put my makeup on a Saturday night,
I try to make it happen,
Try to make it alright,
I know I make mistakes,
I'm living life day to day,
It's never really easy but it's okay
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
People all around,
Everywhere that you go,
People all around you,
They don't really know you,
Everybody's watching like it's some kind of show,
Everybody's watching they don't really know you now,
(They don't really know you, they don't really know you)
And forever
Wake up, wake up,
Wake up, wake up
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go
Wake up, wake up on a Saturday night,
Could be New York,
Maybe Hollywood and Vine,
London, Paris, maybe Tokyo,
There's something going on anywhere I go tonight,
Tonight, yeah tonight
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Jane's Addiction
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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."
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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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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.
One, Hilary Duff does sing and she does not lip sync. Two, money and recognition does not bring you happiness. You can't say that being rich and famous doesn't suck because you've never gotten out of your small town. Don't knock on something you know nothing about. And tally head, she does co-write her albums. Just thought I'd let you know that.
Anyway, I think that this song is just how she wants to step away from being famous and just hang out with her friends but she can't because there's always someone following her because of her status.