"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.
Cet air qui m'obsède, jour et nuit
Cet air n'est pas né d'aujourd'hui
Il vient d'aussi loin que je viens
Traîné par cent mille musiciens
Un jour, cet air, me rendra folle
Cent fois, j'ai voulu dire pourquoi
Mais il m'a coupé la parole
Il parle toujours avant moi
Et sa voix couvre ma voix
Padam, padam, padam
Il arrive en courant, derrière moi
Padam, padam, padam
Il me fait le coup du souviens-toi
Padam, padam, padam
C'est un air qui me montre du doigt
Et je traîne après moi comme une drôle d'erreur
Cet air qui sait tout par cœur
Il dit "rappelle-toi tes amours
Rappelle-toi puisque, c'est ton tour
Y a pas d'raison pour qu'tu n'pleures pas
Avec tes souvenirs sur les bras"
Et moi, je revois ceux qui restent
Mes vingt ans font battre tambour
Je vois s'entrebattre des gestes
Toute la comédie des amours
Sur cet air qui va toujours
Padam, padam, padam
Des "je t'aime", de quatorze-juillet
Padam, padam, padam
Des "toujours", qu'on achète au rabais
Padam, padam, padam
Des "veux-tu", en voilà par paquets
Et tout ça pour tomber juste au coin d'la rue
Sur l'air qui m'a reconnue
Écoutez le chahut qu'il me fait
Comme si tout mon passé défilait
Faut garder du chagrin pour après
J'en ai tout un solfège, sur cet air qui bat
Qui bat comme un cœur de bois
Cet air n'est pas né d'aujourd'hui
Il vient d'aussi loin que je viens
Traîné par cent mille musiciens
Un jour, cet air, me rendra folle
Cent fois, j'ai voulu dire pourquoi
Mais il m'a coupé la parole
Il parle toujours avant moi
Et sa voix couvre ma voix
Padam, padam, padam
Il arrive en courant, derrière moi
Padam, padam, padam
Il me fait le coup du souviens-toi
Padam, padam, padam
C'est un air qui me montre du doigt
Et je traîne après moi comme une drôle d'erreur
Cet air qui sait tout par cœur
Il dit "rappelle-toi tes amours
Rappelle-toi puisque, c'est ton tour
Y a pas d'raison pour qu'tu n'pleures pas
Avec tes souvenirs sur les bras"
Et moi, je revois ceux qui restent
Mes vingt ans font battre tambour
Je vois s'entrebattre des gestes
Toute la comédie des amours
Sur cet air qui va toujours
Padam, padam, padam
Des "je t'aime", de quatorze-juillet
Padam, padam, padam
Des "toujours", qu'on achète au rabais
Padam, padam, padam
Des "veux-tu", en voilà par paquets
Et tout ça pour tomber juste au coin d'la rue
Sur l'air qui m'a reconnue
Écoutez le chahut qu'il me fait
Comme si tout mon passé défilait
Faut garder du chagrin pour après
J'en ai tout un solfège, sur cet air qui bat
Qui bat comme un cœur de bois
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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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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/
This is as yet a somewhat imperfect translation. It needs a degree of phrasal and rhythmic finessing. But this will do for now I guess for anyone looking for some help in appreciating the song in French, 'cause even as it stands now, it's quite accurate and I'd say more or less faithful even in its tone to the original. However, once I've finalized this into a something better, I'll post the updated version here.
PADAM... PADAM...
Paroles: Henri Contet, musique: Norbert Glanzberg, enr. 15 octobre 1951
[The "cet air" of the original refers to a melody, a musical air, as should be clear when you read the whole thing. It's a song that is basically about itself, it talks about its own haunted, mystical and tortured spirit.
Now, there is an equivalent use of the English word 'air' (say: as in 'Londonderry Air') meaning a tune. And hence, I've preserved this noun as one more faithful to the French original and haven't reverted to the more commonly used 'tune' or 'melody']
Cet air qui m'obsède jour et nuit Cet air n'est pas né d'aujourd'hui Il vient d'aussi loin que je viens Traîné par cent mille musicians
This air that haunts me day and night This air isn’t born of today It comes from as far back as where I come from Dragged by a hundred thousand musicians
Un jour cet air me rendra folle Cent fois j'ai voulu dire pourquoi Mais il m'a coupé la parole Il parle toujours avant moi Et sa voix couvre ma voix
One day this air will drive me mad. A hundred times I’ve wanted to ask why But it interrupts my words, it always speaks before me, and its voice overwhelms mine.
Padam... padam... padam... Il arrive en courant derrière moi Padam... padam... padam... Il me fait le coup du souviens-toi Padam... padam... padam... C'est un air qui me montre du doigt Et je traîne après moi comme une drôle d'erreur Cet air qui sait tout par coeur
Padam... padam... padam... It arrives running behind me Padam... padam... padam... It makes me the stroke of your remembering you Padam... padam... padam... It is an air that shows me the finger And I drag it after me like a funny mistake, this air that knows the heart of everything.
Il dit: "Rappelle-toi tes amours Rappelle-toi puisque c'est ton tour Y a pas de raison pour que tu ne pleures pas Avec tes souvenirs sur les bras..."
It says: "Remember your loves, Recall since it’s your tour If there’s a reason for you not to cry With your memories in your hands... "
Et moi je revois ceux qui restent Mes vingt ans font battre tambour Je vois s'entrebattre des gestes Toute la comédie des amours Sur cet air qui va toujours
And I meet again those that remain, My twenty years of beating the drum I see my own gestures between the beats, the whole comedy of those loves, on this air that always goes
Padam... padam... padam... Des "je t'aime" de quatorze-juillet Padam... padam... padam... Des "toujours" qu'on achète au rabais Padam... padam... padam... Des "veux-tu" en voilà par paquets Et tout ça pour tomber juste au coin de la rue Sur l'air qui m'a reconnue
Padam... padam... padam... Of the "I love you"s of July the fourteenth Padam... padam... padam... Of the "forever" that one buys at a discount... Padam... padam... padam... Of the “I want you”s in here by packets And all that to fall deservedly to the corner of the street, on the air that has recognized me.
Écoutez le chahut qu'il me fait Comme si tout mon passé défilait Faut garder du chagrin pour après
Listen to the uproar that it causes in me / As if it’s necessary to have all my past paraded / to preserve the grief for the days to come
J'en ai tout un solfège sur cet air qui bat... Qui bat comme un coeur de bois...
I have a whole musical theory on this air that beats... That which beats like a wooden heart...