"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.
So here we are waking
Savages shaking
The road that we're taking
We've walked before
And if these times
Should seal our fate
You won't see me
At Heavens gate
Danger is lurking
Evil is working
Yet here we are hiding
Behind our doors
Come out come out
It's time to grow
Enjoy the ride
One more time before you go
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What else can you do
When life is unstable
The night's growing colder
The enemy bolder
But as you grow older
You cease to care
But if we run
Or try to hide
And turn our faces
We'll have no hopes
To keep alive
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
Reactions cool
The world is unstable
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What can you do
When life is unstable
So here we are waking
Savages shaking
Here we are hiding
Danger is lurking
Savages shaking
The road that we're taking
We've walked before
And if these times
Should seal our fate
You won't see me
At Heavens gate
Danger is lurking
Evil is working
Yet here we are hiding
Behind our doors
Come out come out
It's time to grow
Enjoy the ride
One more time before you go
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What else can you do
When life is unstable
The night's growing colder
The enemy bolder
But as you grow older
You cease to care
But if we run
Or try to hide
And turn our faces
We'll have no hopes
To keep alive
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
Reactions cool
The world is unstable
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What can you do
When life is unstable
So here we are waking
Savages shaking
Here we are hiding
Danger is lurking
Lyrics submitted by mightypotato
Home Is Where The Heart Is Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
It's about a sense of urgency and danger, with the idea of savagery and danger lurking just beneath the surface. The lyrics suggest that the world is unstable and that the narrator is aware of the risks and dangers they face, but they still encourage taking risks and living life to the fullest. The idea of walking a road that has been walked before gives a sense of familiarity, but the potential for danger is still present.
"If these times should seal our fate" gives a fatalistic outlook, indicating that the future is uncertain and potentially dire.
The repeated refrain "according to Hoyle, all cards on the table" is about following the rules or established norms, but also about being transparent and honest about your intentions and actions.
The lyrics also touch on the idea of growing older and becoming less concerned with risks and danger, which gives a sense of resignation to the risks that life presents. However, the lyrics encourage living life to the fullest and enjoying the ride, even in the face of danger and uncertainty.
According to Mark:
"This is one of my all time favourite Chameleons songs which I still play on occasion with the various people I play with these days. It was very influenced by a TV programme I was crazy about in my younger days called 'The Prisoner.' Again it's quite paranoid and sinister in its themes but was aimed at people I knew who just drew the blinds to what was happening around them. Whenever I got into conversations around these themes I would often remark that the Devil's greatest victory was convincing the world that he didn't exist. Imagine my amazement when these very same words cropped up in the script of 'Usual Suspects.'"