"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.
Lord if they only knew them nights it took
Burnt candles by the dozen to ignite the soul fire
Sheer energy to release to melt the heart
Mind starved voice craved onto wax (and still get taxed)
Relax, unrest unless undressed to the core
Ever so slowly, wash away old skin like springs of sulfur
So far, so good what's life got to offer?
Youth stare curiously analyze the facts
Who's there to encourage give a pat on their back
How come society wanna grow and ignore
Small dreams, big team now every work is a chore
I adore each step, hop skip a cadence
Travel distant in the age of decadence
Do this in reverence to the older veterans
Stripes on their chest plus a chip on their shoulder
Street soldiers cut without severance,
But keep hustling anyways for the L or the F of it
Effervescent light guide the way,
Fear no evil, once lost now found
Like the last man down in the towering inferno of Babylon
First In Last Out
Thirstin' first drop just wet my appetite
But couldn't satisfy my craving for beats
Wrapped tight like a Christmas gift
'Tis night is an eve for a generation to uplift
Live life like a testimony
Simple rhymes in difficult times help a friend
Through a lonely tunnel at the end, Every maze is a funnel into a wine bottle
And corked inside a message so mind boggling, a puzzle
Amazed at the grace having reached a goal
Knock twice on the gate heaven preach a soul
True knowledge of self shine brighter than all
For one part getting polished you better the whole
The sum of the characters carry over your role
24-karat gold, each day is a jewel
Case closed when the end credits roll
Self-representative and elected, yes I
Give and get give back to the constituents
Sit you in a chair and break down the affairs
There's nuthin fashionable
About arriving late in the game and acting OG
Cuz you can't pay dues with credit or cash
Quicktime soft players streaming all the Flash
So I'm sticking copper pins into media outlets
Then I hop up in the black van and then I'm out
Let's get wit the program, drop the Dow Jonesing down
We keep underground dowsing
Microphones iron casting, everlasting sound
Blasting, no doubt first in last out
F.I.L.O, I'd rather do nuthin else
If I follow my heart to the last pulse
Like the last man down in the towering inferno of Babylon
First In Last Out
Burnt candles by the dozen to ignite the soul fire
Sheer energy to release to melt the heart
Mind starved voice craved onto wax (and still get taxed)
Relax, unrest unless undressed to the core
Ever so slowly, wash away old skin like springs of sulfur
So far, so good what's life got to offer?
Youth stare curiously analyze the facts
Who's there to encourage give a pat on their back
How come society wanna grow and ignore
Small dreams, big team now every work is a chore
I adore each step, hop skip a cadence
Travel distant in the age of decadence
Do this in reverence to the older veterans
Stripes on their chest plus a chip on their shoulder
Street soldiers cut without severance,
But keep hustling anyways for the L or the F of it
Effervescent light guide the way,
Fear no evil, once lost now found
Like the last man down in the towering inferno of Babylon
First In Last Out
Thirstin' first drop just wet my appetite
But couldn't satisfy my craving for beats
Wrapped tight like a Christmas gift
'Tis night is an eve for a generation to uplift
Live life like a testimony
Simple rhymes in difficult times help a friend
Through a lonely tunnel at the end, Every maze is a funnel into a wine bottle
And corked inside a message so mind boggling, a puzzle
Amazed at the grace having reached a goal
Knock twice on the gate heaven preach a soul
True knowledge of self shine brighter than all
For one part getting polished you better the whole
The sum of the characters carry over your role
24-karat gold, each day is a jewel
Case closed when the end credits roll
Self-representative and elected, yes I
Give and get give back to the constituents
Sit you in a chair and break down the affairs
There's nuthin fashionable
About arriving late in the game and acting OG
Cuz you can't pay dues with credit or cash
Quicktime soft players streaming all the Flash
So I'm sticking copper pins into media outlets
Then I hop up in the black van and then I'm out
Let's get wit the program, drop the Dow Jonesing down
We keep underground dowsing
Microphones iron casting, everlasting sound
Blasting, no doubt first in last out
F.I.L.O, I'd rather do nuthin else
If I follow my heart to the last pulse
Like the last man down in the towering inferno of Babylon
First In Last Out
Lyrics submitted by Dragon19
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Yo La Tengo
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
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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.
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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.
The guy rapping is so hard to understand.