"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.
Do you want a plight?
Well you don't have a choice
Stand up alive
Cause the music hasn't die yet
[Repeat 3X]
Suzy was a psycho, but she looked good
Little ball of fire, light it up and cook wood
She knew the power of what she had to offer
Pieces of a puzzle, personality, and posture
When it's probably done, it seems spun
As long as you're not ??
Bar fly looking for a fall guy
Taking on all types
From big baller to the small fry
Get what you want out of life
But every night now the same thought arise (babe you got a light?)
Still as lonely as the number one
Cause you only love someone
So you have someone to run from
Run, run, put your back into it Sue
Always wonder what it would be like to try to rap to you
We gotta show Suzy love
Ain't no way anyone's gonna stop before the music does
[Chorus 4X]
Bobby was a genius, and he would prove it
His favorite move is to make you look stupid
He knows the answer, nobody puts their hands up
When he starts talking everybody (shut up)
Bobby didn't have friends, not real ones
Just a bunch of light minded self righteous pilgrims
And they all treated Bob like the big cheese
Knowing damn well they all thought he was a "bitch please"
Blows his own horn, slaps his own bass
While everyone waits for him to fall on his face
And while he's down, someone will take his place
If the suit isn't trump even seven beats an ace
Look at Bobby, he doesn't even know
You're supposed to set a new one after you achieve a goal
Accomplishments are just excuses to talk and spit
When you music stops, who will have a spot to sit?
[Chorus 4X]
Bring me the head of whoever said "play fair"
I want to sit in my chair and wear a blank stare
Fuck being king of the hill
When the music dies you'll be the first one the villagers kill
Walk in circles, dizzy up the movement
Talk in circles, the underground's polluted
Lots of circles, you wonderin' where you fit
Stop the cirlces!
(Over beat boxing)
Oh Oh Oh yea, Oh Oh Oh yea
Well you don't have a choice
Oh Oh Oh yea
Stand up alive
Oh Oh Oh yea
Well you don't have a choice
Stand up...
[Chorus 4X]
Well you don't have a choice
Stand up alive
Cause the music hasn't die yet
[Repeat 3X]
Suzy was a psycho, but she looked good
Little ball of fire, light it up and cook wood
She knew the power of what she had to offer
Pieces of a puzzle, personality, and posture
When it's probably done, it seems spun
As long as you're not ??
Bar fly looking for a fall guy
Taking on all types
From big baller to the small fry
Get what you want out of life
But every night now the same thought arise (babe you got a light?)
Still as lonely as the number one
Cause you only love someone
So you have someone to run from
Run, run, put your back into it Sue
Always wonder what it would be like to try to rap to you
We gotta show Suzy love
Ain't no way anyone's gonna stop before the music does
[Chorus 4X]
Bobby was a genius, and he would prove it
His favorite move is to make you look stupid
He knows the answer, nobody puts their hands up
When he starts talking everybody (shut up)
Bobby didn't have friends, not real ones
Just a bunch of light minded self righteous pilgrims
And they all treated Bob like the big cheese
Knowing damn well they all thought he was a "bitch please"
Blows his own horn, slaps his own bass
While everyone waits for him to fall on his face
And while he's down, someone will take his place
If the suit isn't trump even seven beats an ace
Look at Bobby, he doesn't even know
You're supposed to set a new one after you achieve a goal
Accomplishments are just excuses to talk and spit
When you music stops, who will have a spot to sit?
[Chorus 4X]
Bring me the head of whoever said "play fair"
I want to sit in my chair and wear a blank stare
Fuck being king of the hill
When the music dies you'll be the first one the villagers kill
Walk in circles, dizzy up the movement
Talk in circles, the underground's polluted
Lots of circles, you wonderin' where you fit
Stop the cirlces!
(Over beat boxing)
Oh Oh Oh yea, Oh Oh Oh yea
Well you don't have a choice
Oh Oh Oh yea
Stand up alive
Oh Oh Oh yea
Well you don't have a choice
Stand up...
[Chorus 4X]
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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."
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.
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
No one's commented yet..wow. Well this might be partially due to the fact the the first line, one of the most important, is wrong. It's "DO YOU WANT A PLIGHT?" I can see how someone might misunderstand, cause musical chairs is a game, but it's wrong, and adds less depth.
Anyways, the song speaks to me about some of the bullshit that people pull, and the games they play, that keeps society(or at least the culture he lives in) running around in worthless, endless circles.
The "Suzy" and "Bobby" verses speak not just about them but the people that follow them in aimless circles. However, the third is obviously a little more about Slug trying to keep out of the circles, not play the games, just watching the chumps follow aimlessly.
All three verses are small examples of the many circular plights (unavoidable, unfortunate situations) that we'll probably all experience until the day we die... and the music stops.