"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 am not dead
I demand I know my rights
I know my rights
You cover illness with flowers
And flowers die
And flowers die
Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me
Make sense to me
Never let yourself out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me
To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper, and paper burns
Eternity is not sunrise
Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me,
Make sense to me
Never let your self out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me
To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper and paper burns
Eternity is not a sunrise
I demand I know my rights
I know my rights
You cover illness with flowers
And flowers die
And flowers die
Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me
Make sense to me
Never let yourself out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me
To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper, and paper burns
Eternity is not sunrise
Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me,
Make sense to me
Never let your self out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me
To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper and paper burns
Eternity is not a sunrise
Lyrics submitted by deltasunlight, edited by yossarian9
Bag Lady Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
hmm..."William's Last Words" is the last track on the album, but I look at "Bag Lady" as being the true final thought on the album. The Manics know this, and by making it a secret song, it's the final statement on Journal for Plague Lovers and takes the album out on a high note. I see it as a testament to Richey in his own words.
He has "let (him)self out" in so many ways on paper and in words that it has "ruined" him. There really is not anything else he can say or do to make a difference because people will continue to be vain and self-absorbed--our culture is built on materialism, a motif in much of Richey's writing. "To be morally good, are we ready to love?" is Richey saying that in order to be truly "good" we must "love" but the kind of love people are taught to value, through holy books, romance novels, love songs, etc. are all "a devil pretending to be a god."
"Walking I feel I follow mirrors that make sense to me"--Us as humans (Richey included, he has always admitted he is just as guilty of being vain) constantly validate our views opinions and look into "mirrors" that comfort us instead of questioning ourselves and digging deeper. In order to be "morally good" we must let go of this sense of "love" that we have grown attached to, which is all a product of dogma and materialism.
"Love's written on paper, and paper burns," "You cover illness with flowers, and flowers die," "eternity is not sunrise"---these lines all mean a similar thing metaphorically. They all represent some type of beauty ("love," "flowers," "sunrise") that is not eternal and will eventually "die" or "burn." All of these infatuations and sense of love eventually crumble and die.
All in all, I see it as Richey coming to a conclusion within himself. He has let himself out in his words for all to see, and it has not brought him the sense of love he has sought. Perhaps he is in fact "not dead," became fed up with his celebrity, and just moved on.
@fartystinksobad the "Never let your self out/ I did, it ruined me" line reminds me a lot of "If it's your decision to be open about yourself/ Be careful or else" from Elliott Smith's "Memory Lane". two wonderful writers who struggled to exist in this world.
I wonder if this song was Richey giving a hint as to whether he didn't commit suicide and instead wanted to become unknown, especially in the phrase 'Never let yourself out, I did, it ruined me', meaning he let people know who he was and now regrets it and so doesn't want to end his life but instead have a new identity. Starting with 'I am not dead', then going on to 'You cover illness with flowers and flowers die' saying we give ill people flowers as if that makes everything better but it's all meaningless. 'To be morally good.......Eternity is not sunrise' may suggest he feels the word 'love' is used too often and people don't actually mean it with the last two lines showing that even though people say it or write it down, they don't mean it and it ia not eternal. 'A devil pretending to be a God' may suggest lust in that people are drawn to that and think it's love when it's not.
I'm so glad I finally checked the lyrics. All this time I've been singing "Rabbits in Love"
Actual Lyrics are... Walk in half-view of all mirrors, it makes sense to me, makes sense to me and instead of 'Are we ready to love?' It's 'Only rather to love'
I think this is about Richey's experience in hospital, his experience of undergoing therapy. 'Never let yourself out' (i.e. richey may perceive therapy as telling him to not be his real self) and 'I know my rights' (again could be about being forced to undertake therapy, or indeed 'knowing your rights' is an element of cognitive therapy for those with low self esteem).
Mirrors have been used before in the Holy Bible lyrics. Walk in half view of mirrors is all about his vanity - which again refers to his mental state.
to be morally good - may refer to his 12 step programme - 'a devil pretending to be a god'?
Firstly the title refers to someone who is homeless. (Bag Lady) 'Eternity is not sunrise' may I believe relate to this short William Blake poem 'Eternity' -
(He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise.)
Since this is rejected it is not lived in, without a home.
What can we associate with a home? healing/sanctuary/safety/boundaries/authority These are all dealt with in the song and shown to be unstable (health-'flowers die'/self-'ruined me'/laws-'paper burns')
As for Richey, I hope he's leading some kind of monastical/nomadic life somewhere :-)