"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.
Winged words light a lot of booming fires set by two birds on a wire
from want to justice do their view.
Our only witness is the open sky.
Tell me why words lie down for you like lovers do.
Oh, victim of circumstance when you rest your head
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed
Or do you lie awake and wait for me?
First impressions were the key
And if you look you’ll find me slightly behind the eyes.
That’s where I hide.
You view yourself through others eyes.
That’s why words lie down for you like lovers do.
Oh, victim of circumstance when you rest your head
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed
Or do you lie awake and wait for me?
Turn up the stereo, sing out all the words we wrote.
You know the beat goes, the beat goes la de da la da da de da
Turn up the stereo you won’t recall the night you wrote
You don’t believe that you ever saved it enough to be a hero
and fell in love with what you can’t control.
The twisted facts will fade
a new love with the same taste and sound.
Look to the sky, not the groud
Believe in what you know nothing about
I’m in love with a name I can’t pronounce, pronounce, pronounce.
(Turn off the stereo)
I’m a victim of circumstance
(sing out all the words we wrote)
when you rest your hand.
(You know the beat goes la de da la dad a de da)
(You know the beat goes, the beat goes)
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed?
from want to justice do their view.
Our only witness is the open sky.
Tell me why words lie down for you like lovers do.
Oh, victim of circumstance when you rest your head
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed
Or do you lie awake and wait for me?
First impressions were the key
And if you look you’ll find me slightly behind the eyes.
That’s where I hide.
You view yourself through others eyes.
That’s why words lie down for you like lovers do.
Oh, victim of circumstance when you rest your head
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed
Or do you lie awake and wait for me?
Turn up the stereo, sing out all the words we wrote.
You know the beat goes, the beat goes la de da la da da de da
Turn up the stereo you won’t recall the night you wrote
You don’t believe that you ever saved it enough to be a hero
and fell in love with what you can’t control.
The twisted facts will fade
a new love with the same taste and sound.
Look to the sky, not the groud
Believe in what you know nothing about
I’m in love with a name I can’t pronounce, pronounce, pronounce.
(Turn off the stereo)
I’m a victim of circumstance
(sing out all the words we wrote)
when you rest your hand.
(You know the beat goes la de da la dad a de da)
(You know the beat goes, the beat goes)
Do I live in your dreams, do I ascend your bed?
Lyrics submitted by CoveredInGlitter
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
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.
So live him up to be a hero