"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.
Sometimes I know there is nothing to say
So, do I pick up my puzzle and just walk away?
Do I follow my conscience?
Am I mock sincere?
I don't know what I'm doing here
I have a knack for perceiving things
I can see how it sounds
I can feel how it sings
When you paint me an image of who you are
I know it's the best by far
So
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
No point of view is enough to quell
The rigors of passion in this world I dwell
If I'm going to scale the highest wall
I'm gonna give it my all
Riding along with this train of thought
I see everything
I find all I sought
And I try to kick the habit of trying to reach
But there's something I do beseech
So please...
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
I'll say it's not surprising
You're sweet talking, mesmerizing
Juicy and appetizing, true
But will I need to get over you?
Feels like my sun is rising
Tick tick tick, synchronizing
Readjusting, organizing me
Is this fiction reality?
Bless the uncompromising
With no shame for advertising
When my needs go through downsizing
I need someone to pick up my beat
My dreams need realizing, candles on sugar icing
Judgment and harmonizing
Or it'll end up like before
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
So, do I pick up my puzzle and just walk away?
Do I follow my conscience?
Am I mock sincere?
I don't know what I'm doing here
I have a knack for perceiving things
I can see how it sounds
I can feel how it sings
When you paint me an image of who you are
I know it's the best by far
So
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
No point of view is enough to quell
The rigors of passion in this world I dwell
If I'm going to scale the highest wall
I'm gonna give it my all
Riding along with this train of thought
I see everything
I find all I sought
And I try to kick the habit of trying to reach
But there's something I do beseech
So please...
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
I'll say it's not surprising
You're sweet talking, mesmerizing
Juicy and appetizing, true
But will I need to get over you?
Feels like my sun is rising
Tick tick tick, synchronizing
Readjusting, organizing me
Is this fiction reality?
Bless the uncompromising
With no shame for advertising
When my needs go through downsizing
I need someone to pick up my beat
My dreams need realizing, candles on sugar icing
Judgment and harmonizing
Or it'll end up like before
Don't, don't, don't mess my hair
If all you do is fake it
Don't, don't, don't say you care
'Cause I could never shake it
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
Don't, don't, don't mess with me
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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."
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.
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.
Coming out of a relationship like this I can very much relate to these lyrics... Got to know her on the internet, then we met and we got into a relationship, but then the real person came out after a while. All of a sudden my dreams were not important anymore, what I needed, who I was, everything seemed unimportant to her. Why for me it is about this: When you paint me an image of who you are, I know it's the best by far. That is really what people do on the internet. But when you meet a lot of other things come out that you didn't bargain for.
"when my needs go through downsizing I need someone to pick up my beat.
My dreams need realizing."
That for me is about her wanting to control me and bind me to her in an unhealthy way, taking all dreams and freedom away. I needed someone to motivate me to pick up my life and dreams again after this relationship.
I can say more about these lyrics and their parallel with my experiences, but I think this is enough for now ;-)