"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.
In a sweater poorly knit and an unsuspecting smile
little Moses drifts downstream in the Nile
A fumbling reply, an awkward rigid laugh
and I'm carried helpless by my floating basket raft
Your flavor in my mind, back and forth between
sweeter than any wine as bitter as mustard greens
and it's light and dark as honeydew and pumpernickel bread
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
Go plow some other field, try and forget my name
We'll see what harvest yields, and, supposing I'd do the same
I planted rows of peas, by the first week of July
they should have come up to my knees
but they were maybe ankle high
Take the fingers from your flute and weave your colored yarns
and boil down your fruit to preserves in mason jars
And the books are overdue, and the goats are underfed
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
You're a door without a key, a field without a fence
You made a holy fool of me and I've thanked you ever since.
And if she comes circling back we'll end where we'd begun
like two pennies on the train track the train crushed into one
But if I'm a crown without a king, if I'm a broken open seed
if I come without a thing, then I come with all I need
No boat out in the blue, no place to rest your head,
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
I do not exist
Only You exist
I do not exist
little Moses drifts downstream in the Nile
A fumbling reply, an awkward rigid laugh
and I'm carried helpless by my floating basket raft
Your flavor in my mind, back and forth between
sweeter than any wine as bitter as mustard greens
and it's light and dark as honeydew and pumpernickel bread
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
Go plow some other field, try and forget my name
We'll see what harvest yields, and, supposing I'd do the same
I planted rows of peas, by the first week of July
they should have come up to my knees
but they were maybe ankle high
Take the fingers from your flute and weave your colored yarns
and boil down your fruit to preserves in mason jars
And the books are overdue, and the goats are underfed
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
You're a door without a key, a field without a fence
You made a holy fool of me and I've thanked you ever since.
And if she comes circling back we'll end where we'd begun
like two pennies on the train track the train crushed into one
But if I'm a crown without a king, if I'm a broken open seed
if I come without a thing, then I come with all I need
No boat out in the blue, no place to rest your head,
The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
I do not exist
Only You exist
I do not exist
Lyrics submitted by you fail me, edited by GunslingerXiX
In a Sweater Poorly Knit Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
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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”
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Bee Gees
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
"The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead" is a reference to the Sufi poet, Rumi (who has proved to be a great influence in much of Aaron's songwriting).
The poem which the line is derived from (titled "Who Makes These Changes?") seems to be addressing humanity's proclivity toward sin, and how one should be suspicious of his or her desires (which reminds me of the verse in Jeremiah which states that the heart is deceitful above all else). Perhaps this is Aaron grappling with his sin nature, which is in essence rebellion against God. These themes are predominate throughout so many mwY songs. That grappling between flesh and spirit is too real for the Christian.