"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.
Now I have finally accepted
We will never stand in the same room
I can never hear your voice of reason
At least you didn't, didn't feel a thing
When I was younger, you would tell me
That I should wait to grow up
That things don't go always as planned
At least you didn't, didn't feel a thing
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
No, you didn't feel
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
Now I'm standing at a crossroad
Don't know which path is calling me
I wanna follow in your footsteps
So you know you're never alone
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
No, you're never alone
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
I'm still here but I'm waiting
For our long conversations
I'm still here but I'm waiting to go home
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
(No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing)
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
You are home, you are home
We will never stand in the same room
I can never hear your voice of reason
At least you didn't, didn't feel a thing
When I was younger, you would tell me
That I should wait to grow up
That things don't go always as planned
At least you didn't, didn't feel a thing
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
No, you didn't feel
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
Now I'm standing at a crossroad
Don't know which path is calling me
I wanna follow in your footsteps
So you know you're never alone
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
No, you're never alone
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
I'm still here but I'm waiting
For our long conversations
I'm still here but I'm waiting to go home
When I die, I'll be fine
'Cause I know you're always there
When I die, I'm alright
'Cause I know you'll be there, you are home
(No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing)
No, you didn't, didn't have to feel a thing
You are home, you are home
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
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.
I'm sorry this is prob the best song on the new cd, love the lyrics and the melody
Yeah, it's really a great song. I love it, but I can't really distinguish a favorite, personally...
...just about reconnecting with a lost loved one... nice song, great lyrics...
I fucking love this song! Best song on the CD by far, I agree with mags2424! I can totally relate to it. After my boyfriend passed away a couple months ago I've been totally down, but I know I have a kick ass person watching over me and I'll know he will be up there when it's my time to get there, too.
This song was written by Chad about the death of his father from a heart attack. What makes this song unique is that its not a 'feel bad for me' kind of song, it is very positive. Don't be afraid of death, because someone you miss and love very much will be there waiting for you.
Ah, love the double meaning with "You are home". :D
this song is the first song i ever heard from them, now i absoloutly love them...dont have a clue what it means though
this song kinda has the same sort of vibe as their song sonny. it takes something as sad as death, and shows you the up sides. love them both.
its such a reassuring song that almost suggests death isnt the end. even if that isnt the case and death is a dead end its still a great song with plenty of uplifting lyrics to help anyone thts lost someone.
Higgins seems to have the logic i guess! great song about loss
so I'm totally on the same page in that this song is about mourning the positives of a lost loved one, etc and i'm wondering, though, could the lines "Now I'm standing at a crossroad don't know which path is calling me I wanna follow in your footsteps so you know you're never alone" be interpreted as the feeling of wanting to take your own life when you're consumed by the death? just wondering..
this song makes me cry btw :( its so sweet