"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.
Were we the Kinnock factor
Am I talking private sector
Do I think I'm Shaun William Ryder
Or my former friend who's now undercover
He's gone and I'm no deserter
Perhaps I'm hard all the same
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Steve Ovett has injured his calf
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
So I water my plants with Evian
A brand new Dyson that is decadent
Read my papers and the business section
Check out the Tessas and the pensions
Call my friends and they're alright
So I pray for the safety of the night
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Steve Ovett has injured his calf
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
Remember ethnic cleansing in the highlands
No one says a thing in the middle of En-ger-land
I'm bruised fruit but still taste so nice
But if you look at me you better look twice
I'm talking rubbish to cover up the cracks
An empty vessel who can't make contact
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Phil Bennett's playing outside half
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
A prologue
Am I talking private sector
Do I think I'm Shaun William Ryder
Or my former friend who's now undercover
He's gone and I'm no deserter
Perhaps I'm hard all the same
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Steve Ovett has injured his calf
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
So I water my plants with Evian
A brand new Dyson that is decadent
Read my papers and the business section
Check out the Tessas and the pensions
Call my friends and they're alright
So I pray for the safety of the night
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Steve Ovett has injured his calf
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
Remember ethnic cleansing in the highlands
No one says a thing in the middle of En-ger-land
I'm bruised fruit but still taste so nice
But if you look at me you better look twice
I'm talking rubbish to cover up the cracks
An empty vessel who can't make contact
Today a poet who can't play guitar
Tomorrow Phil Bennett's playing outside half
Next year the world's greatest politician
Yesterday the boy who once had a mission
I don't want to be
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
A prologue to history
A prologue
Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser
Prologue to History Lyrics as written by Jones Bradfield
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Mountain Song
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."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Probably the Highland Clearances. There was a lot of forced migration going on in the 18th and 19th centuries in the highlands of Scotland.
Thanks for answering!