"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.
I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
It sits in silence, eats away at me
It feeds like cancer, this guilt could fill a fucking sea
Pulling teeth, wolves at my door
Now falling and failing is all I know
This disease is getting worse
I counted my blessings, now I'll count this curse
The only thing I really know, I can't sleep at night
I'm buried and breathing in regret
Yeah!
The only thing I really know, I can't sleep at night
I'm buried and breathing in regret
I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
I may look happy, but honestly dear,
The only way I'll really smile is if you cut me ear to ear
I see the vultures, they watch me bleed
They lick their lips, as all the shame spills out of me
Repent! Repent! The end is nigh!
Repent! Repent! We're all gonna die!
Repent! Repent! These secrets will kill us!
So get on your knees, and pray for
Repent! Repent! The end is nigh!
Repent! Repent! We're all gonna die!
Repent! Repent! These secrets will kill us!
So get on your knees, and pray for forgiveness!
We all carry these things inside that no one else can see
They hold us down like anchors. They drown us out at sea
I look up to the sky, there may be nothing there to see
But if I don't believe in him, why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Well I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
Well I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you will never know
You will never know
I know something you don't know
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
It sits in silence, eats away at me
It feeds like cancer, this guilt could fill a fucking sea
Pulling teeth, wolves at my door
Now falling and failing is all I know
This disease is getting worse
I counted my blessings, now I'll count this curse
The only thing I really know, I can't sleep at night
I'm buried and breathing in regret
Yeah!
The only thing I really know, I can't sleep at night
I'm buried and breathing in regret
I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
I may look happy, but honestly dear,
The only way I'll really smile is if you cut me ear to ear
I see the vultures, they watch me bleed
They lick their lips, as all the shame spills out of me
Repent! Repent! The end is nigh!
Repent! Repent! We're all gonna die!
Repent! Repent! These secrets will kill us!
So get on your knees, and pray for
Repent! Repent! The end is nigh!
Repent! Repent! We're all gonna die!
Repent! Repent! These secrets will kill us!
So get on your knees, and pray for forgiveness!
We all carry these things inside that no one else can see
They hold us down like anchors. They drown us out at sea
I look up to the sky, there may be nothing there to see
But if I don't believe in him, why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Why would he believe in me?
Well I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you don't know
Well I've got a secret
It's on the tip of my tongue, it's on the back of my lungs
And I'm gonna keep it
I know something you will never know
You will never know
I know something you don't know
Lyrics submitted by LNDMIASMA, edited by fuckxyouxcunt
Chelsea Smile Lyrics as written by Matthew Kean Curtis Ward
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, O/B/O DistroKid, Royalty Network
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
This song, in my mind, has completely redeemed this band. I've never held them in great esteem, but hoooly.
Songmeaning wise, i think the whole song smacks of the saying 'every person has a heavy burden to bear'. You can know someone inside out, and yet not even touch on what pains them the most in every day life.