He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
The day has ended
I lay awake
A soft glow over my shoulder
Wake tomorrow and then it's all the same
And I'll destroy the memories one by one
The bitter past erased
I'll not replace
What's done is done
No belief is all that's left and I do not regret
The darkness welcomes me back home!
And I am still my own
Can't take away [Repeat: x2]
And I feel the pain still deeply
It seems sometimes too much to bear
I have a core within me still
My strength is there
And I'll destroy the memories one by one
The bitter past erased
I'll not replace
What's done is done
No belief is all that's left and I do not regret
The darkness welcomes me back home!
And I am still my own Can't take away [Repeat: x2]
And I can't be made less
I know who I am
And I am still my own!
I lay awake
A soft glow over my shoulder
Wake tomorrow and then it's all the same
And I'll destroy the memories one by one
The bitter past erased
I'll not replace
What's done is done
No belief is all that's left and I do not regret
The darkness welcomes me back home!
And I am still my own
Can't take away [Repeat: x2]
And I feel the pain still deeply
It seems sometimes too much to bear
I have a core within me still
My strength is there
And I'll destroy the memories one by one
The bitter past erased
I'll not replace
What's done is done
No belief is all that's left and I do not regret
The darkness welcomes me back home!
And I am still my own Can't take away [Repeat: x2]
And I can't be made less
I know who I am
And I am still my own!
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More Featured Meanings
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
who needs drugs wen u got music?