"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.
Well I didn't think that it would end like this
Cutting of the blood to ten
With a rope around my wrist
But I think that every one imagines why
And where it is they're gonna die
And when it happens do we fly?
And I wished I could have told my son
That I was the coward one
It's never admirable when your father can't move on
Well I never thought that you would slip inside
Your brother's unfaithful wife
While the children were down the stairs
I saw what you were doing
And I wished that I have burnt that goddamn door
Finding both of you on the floor
Realizing your brides a whore
Really takes an enormous toll
On your head
Well I didn't think that you could craft this song
Sleeping with the devil and all
And I can hear you sing along
And I wished that I could have told the Lord
To sever me at the chord
Cause the moment I left I'd never come back no more
So hope that it actually ends for me this way
Cause tomorrow is another day
And I have to decide to stay or stay
For now I'll keep my hands around this thing
And wait for an apostle to sing
You're never allowed to come in
So just sink or swim
Cutting of the blood to ten
With a rope around my wrist
But I think that every one imagines why
And where it is they're gonna die
And when it happens do we fly?
And I wished I could have told my son
That I was the coward one
It's never admirable when your father can't move on
Well I never thought that you would slip inside
Your brother's unfaithful wife
While the children were down the stairs
I saw what you were doing
And I wished that I have burnt that goddamn door
Finding both of you on the floor
Realizing your brides a whore
Really takes an enormous toll
On your head
Well I didn't think that you could craft this song
Sleeping with the devil and all
And I can hear you sing along
And I wished that I could have told the Lord
To sever me at the chord
Cause the moment I left I'd never come back no more
So hope that it actually ends for me this way
Cause tomorrow is another day
And I have to decide to stay or stay
For now I'll keep my hands around this thing
And wait for an apostle to sing
You're never allowed to come in
So just sink or swim
Lyrics submitted by YourFavWeapon83, edited by Mellow_Harsher, Jimbo454
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
ahh... after about the 5 thousandth listen... "Cutting off the Blood to ten"; meaning ten fingers? The rope and the weight of the anchor. I can completely picturing teetering on the edge of the ship in this painful moment of choice.