"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.
I slowly started chipping away at this block of stone
In an attempt to regain your attention
Why won't you hear me out?
I started out with some paper and pen and my apologies
But every time I try to write to you
I just can never find the words to explain
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
Picked up the phone and I started to dial your line from memory
Too proud to ever let you pick up
Close to the point where I should give up
You'll never call me back
So now I'm doing something tangible -
I'm working with my hands
Because I can never seem to manage to say I'm sorry in a language you can comprehend
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
I'll put it right outside your window
So it's impossible to ignore
Will that be good enough for you?
And even if you pull your shades down
And burn the statue to the ground
It'll be enough to bring your warmth back to me
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
Come back to me.
In an attempt to regain your attention
Why won't you hear me out?
I started out with some paper and pen and my apologies
But every time I try to write to you
I just can never find the words to explain
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
Picked up the phone and I started to dial your line from memory
Too proud to ever let you pick up
Close to the point where I should give up
You'll never call me back
So now I'm doing something tangible -
I'm working with my hands
Because I can never seem to manage to say I'm sorry in a language you can comprehend
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
I'll put it right outside your window
So it's impossible to ignore
Will that be good enough for you?
And even if you pull your shades down
And burn the statue to the ground
It'll be enough to bring your warmth back to me
So I'll build a monument to honor you
Out of the ruins of the love I knew
I'll turn your favorite memories into
A sight for all to see
Cause I know when you see it,
You'll come back to me
Come back to me.
Lyrics submitted by youcanbreathe_now
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Little Feat
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
I Can't Go To Sleep
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I cannot beleive no one commented on this amazing song. The beginning caught me right away.
The lyrics are pretty self explanatory; really sweet.
I slowly started chipping away at this block of stone In an attempt to regain your attention Why won't you hear me out? I started out with some paper and pen and my apologies But every time I try to write to you I just can never find the words to explain
I thoguht this just meant how he was with a girl, and she jsut got bored and lost interest. The whole chipping the block of stone is a way to make her remember what they sued to have.
I'll put it right outside your window So it's impossible to ignore Will that be good enough for you? And even if you pull your shades down And burn the statue to the ground It'll be enough to bring your warmth back to me
I'm thinking this girl is jsut avoiding him, but he's saying he's going to stand "right outside her window," meaning he's going to be right next to her, waititng. I jsut really loved this song; it's simple yet poetuic in its own way.
this is my favorite of their songs.
at one of their shows i kinda got forced into buying their cd...but im really glad i did.
I recon this band is hell good, im always one for trying to find bands that not many people have heard of. i agree the start of the song really gets u hooked
this song is one of my favs. i think its about him trying to prove his love to her even after what happen last time.
There's one part I'd like to point out that's missing from the lyrics above. The second line should be, "In an attempt to fashion a way to regain your attention". Other than that, the lyrics are spot-on.