"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 ya never quite forget the first tape you buy
Mine was Naughty By Nature back when OPP was hot
Who'd have thought that I could ever turn out this way
I'm blamin' Ad-rock, Mike D and M-C-A
Yeah it was Beasties on mind pretty much all the time
'Til I started smokin' pot and figured out about Sublime
Oh my god I never wanted something so badly
I wanna learn to play guitar and sing just like Bradley
And the b lines that Eric dropped reminded me of hip hop
And I'm singin' lovin' is what I got I got I got
Cause when the lovin' was gone
I learned to play the blues through Stevie Ray Vaughn
I needed music for all the ways it helped me feel
And now I'm lovin' my guitar the way that B.B loved Lucille
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Well the Marley was the tune Little J was in the womb
My mommy put the headphones on her belly feel me move
And every Jimi Hendrix riff I'd give her a little kick
Just to let her know to turn it up a little bit
And please when I grow up can I sound like Police
That's what I was thinkin' while I prayed on my knees
But now that I'm grown I found a sound of my own
I'm in the studio now and I feel like I'm home
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe.
Now my music's been shelved,
Because these people don't believe in me,
But I'ma feel this "shuff" up before they hear the end of me.
I'll be writing songs until the end of all eternity,
I never went to college man, my band was my fraternity.
Never stick my nose in the shit that ain't concern to me,
But I'll be the first to swing, man, if you're burnin' me.
Every day you wait's just another day wasted,
I'm so damn close, man, I can taste it.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Mine was Naughty By Nature back when OPP was hot
Who'd have thought that I could ever turn out this way
I'm blamin' Ad-rock, Mike D and M-C-A
Yeah it was Beasties on mind pretty much all the time
'Til I started smokin' pot and figured out about Sublime
Oh my god I never wanted something so badly
I wanna learn to play guitar and sing just like Bradley
And the b lines that Eric dropped reminded me of hip hop
And I'm singin' lovin' is what I got I got I got
Cause when the lovin' was gone
I learned to play the blues through Stevie Ray Vaughn
I needed music for all the ways it helped me feel
And now I'm lovin' my guitar the way that B.B loved Lucille
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Well the Marley was the tune Little J was in the womb
My mommy put the headphones on her belly feel me move
And every Jimi Hendrix riff I'd give her a little kick
Just to let her know to turn it up a little bit
And please when I grow up can I sound like Police
That's what I was thinkin' while I prayed on my knees
But now that I'm grown I found a sound of my own
I'm in the studio now and I feel like I'm home
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe.
Now my music's been shelved,
Because these people don't believe in me,
But I'ma feel this "shuff" up before they hear the end of me.
I'll be writing songs until the end of all eternity,
I never went to college man, my band was my fraternity.
Never stick my nose in the shit that ain't concern to me,
But I'll be the first to swing, man, if you're burnin' me.
Every day you wait's just another day wasted,
I'm so damn close, man, I can taste it.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like, six damn strings never sounded so appealing.
Can you feel it? (Yeah)
I'm like once you grab the mic you better
Sing like you believe
Like you believe, like you believe, like you believe,
Like you believe.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Like you believe in you, like you.
Lyrics submitted by hailihaili123
Believe Lyrics as written by Jared Watson Dustin Bushnell
Lyrics © SONGS MUSIC PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Gentle Hour
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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,
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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.
No Surprises
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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.
Awesome song. No abstract message here... Just a song about his love for music and all of the amazing musical influences that made him the awesome artist that he is.