"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 opened my eyes last night
And saw you in the low light
Walking down by the bay
On the shore, staring up at the planes
That aren't there anymore
I was feeling the night grow old
And you were looking so cold
So like an introvert
I drew my over shirt
Around my arms and began
To shiver violently before
You happened to look
And see the tunnels all around me
Running into the dark
Underground
All the subways around
Create a great sound
To my motion fatigue
Farewell
With your ear to a seashell
You can hear the waves
In underwater caves
As if you actually were inside
A saltwater room
Time together isn't never quite enough
When you and I are alone
I've never felt so at home
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
Only time, only time
When we're apart what ever are you thinking of
If this is what I call home why does it feel so alone
So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time, all the time
Can you believe that the crew has gone
And wouldn't let me sign on?
All my islands have sunk
In the deep, so I can hardly relax
Or even oversleep
I feel as if I were home, some nights
When we count all the ship lights
I guess I'll never know
Why sparrows love the snow
We'll turn off all of the lights
And set this ballroom aglow
(So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love? All the time)
Time together isn't never quite enough
When you and I are alone
I've never felt so at home
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
We need time, only time
When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?
If this is what I call home why does it feel so alone?
So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time, all the time
Time together is just never quite enough
When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time
And saw you in the low light
Walking down by the bay
On the shore, staring up at the planes
That aren't there anymore
I was feeling the night grow old
And you were looking so cold
So like an introvert
I drew my over shirt
Around my arms and began
To shiver violently before
You happened to look
And see the tunnels all around me
Running into the dark
Underground
All the subways around
Create a great sound
To my motion fatigue
Farewell
With your ear to a seashell
You can hear the waves
In underwater caves
As if you actually were inside
A saltwater room
Time together isn't never quite enough
When you and I are alone
I've never felt so at home
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
Only time, only time
When we're apart what ever are you thinking of
If this is what I call home why does it feel so alone
So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time, all the time
Can you believe that the crew has gone
And wouldn't let me sign on?
All my islands have sunk
In the deep, so I can hardly relax
Or even oversleep
I feel as if I were home, some nights
When we count all the ship lights
I guess I'll never know
Why sparrows love the snow
We'll turn off all of the lights
And set this ballroom aglow
(So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love? All the time)
Time together isn't never quite enough
When you and I are alone
I've never felt so at home
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
We need time, only time
When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?
If this is what I call home why does it feel so alone?
So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time, all the time
Time together is just never quite enough
When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love?
All the time
Lyrics submitted by LovelyMauve
The Saltwater Room Lyrics as written by Adam R. Young
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
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Radiohead
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I don't like this version as much as the original, but it's still one of my favorites of Ocean Eyes.
Sometimes, you don't know how exactly how to love someone, you just know that they've become an integral part of your life.
One of the reasons for him redoing it is because the production level has been stepped up like crazy, and Ocean Eyes is probably his first CD that'll actually gain some attention, so you'd want his best song on it.
Oh, I know. I just prefer the original. I still think that both are really good.<br /> <br /> Thanks though :)
Gotta say, the original version is good, but for some reason i really love the Ocean Eyes version. its so cute, and relaxes me and makes me happy every time i listen to it. :) awesome song!
I've loved this song from the first time I've ever heard it, but I thought it seemed like a very sad song. But since I've now read some of the comments made by others, I realized that this song could be totally the opposite. I now have formed my own idea based on some of other's ideas, so I may repeat myself a bit in my description:
I believe it's about a girl and guy that are friends who are starting to develop feeling for each other. The guy seems to have many emotional problems. Now the breakdown of the lyrics.
"I opened my eyes last night and saw you in the low light" -The guy wakes up and instantly starts thinking about what went on last night -The "low light" probably refers to literal low light, meaning its nighttime, which is easily identifiable with the lyrics to come
"Walking down by the bay, on the shore, Staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore" -That's pretty self explanatory; she's walking by the shore at night, no doubt accompanied by the guy
"I was feeling the night grow old" -No need for explanation
"and you were looking so cold, So like an introvert, I drew my over shirt, Around my arms and began to shiver violently" -She's cold, so he gives her his over shirt to sacrifice his warmth for hers
"Before you happened to look and see the tunnels all around me, Running in to the dark underground" -This is where it seems to get more emotional. I think this refers to him having emotional problems, mainly, loneliness
"All the subways around create a great sound" -There's two ways I can take this: 1- This is referring again to these "tunnels running in to the dark underground" where there are possibly subways in these "tunnels" and scream with joy when he's with her and to me seems that he feels like all his problems go away when he's with her (like loneliness). or 2-He literally means he hears subways and simply likes the sound of them.
"To my motion fatigue, farewell, with your ear to a seashell" -He's thinking of how great he feels when he's with her as he watches her put a seashell to her ear.
"You can hear the waves in underwater caves, As if you actually were inside a saltwater room" -She hears the typical sound of the "ocean" when she puts the seashell to her ear -The "saltwater room" may be an actual thing of existence that I'm unaware of, but I'm pretty sure they don't exist, so I think this is just possibly a figment of imagination to the guy because he loves the sea.
"Time together isn't ever quite enough" -Obvious
"When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home" -His loneliness is cured when he's with her
"What will it take to make or break this hint of love? Only time, only time" -Now at first this was the part of the song that made me feel like this was a sad song, but again, my views have changed -I now believe she's wondering what would "make or break" the start of their developing feelings for each other, and he answers that time is the answer, because their "hint of love" would fade over time if neither of them did anything about it, but in order for feelings to develop, it takes time... so it answers both parts of the question
"Can you believe that the crew has gone? And the wouldn't let me sign on" -This could be a reference to a sea crew that he wanted to join because of his love for the ocean, or it could be old friends that left him behind in some way or other. Either way, it seemed to have hurt him, which is probably part of those emotional "tunnels"
"All my islands have sunk in the deep" -I'm not really sure about this part. My only thought right now is that it could possibly be financial debt because the islands (money, source of wealth, etc.) have sunk (debt)
"And I can hardly relax or even oversleep" -He can't sleep because of his problems
"When I feel warm with your hand in mine, When we walk along the shore line" -He's recalling good memories with her
"I guess we'll never know why sparrows love the snow" -This is the part that I'm most unsure of. I think he's using this as an analogy of sorts to his situation with the girl; apparently sparrows love the snow (I don't know if that's true or not) and he doesn't know why, and he also doesn't know exactly why he feels the way he does when he's around this girl
"We'll turn out all of the lights and set this ballroom aglow" -We're going to fix the problems and let our love grow
Well I believe that's it. I love this song so much I've spent like 20 minutes typing all of this up, and it's pretty much just come to me when I was listening to it a little while ago. Anyways, my thoughts are that this song isn't a sad song at all, but the starting of love. I hope you like my thoughts :)
I absolutely love this song and I definitely don't think it was necessary to redo it for the Ocean Eyes album...but this newer version is growing on me [:
It's just as meaningful and touching as it's always been. <3
As much as I love the old version, I love this one too. This version is what he plays live and it's veryvery good!
I suppose I am a bit bias in favor of this version since I heard it first but I think it is more aggressive towards liking the other person which i really get a kick out of versus the original. At any rate they are both incredible songs.
i really like this song.. :)
I can't really decide if I like this version or the original better, I've been an Owl City fan since their first album so I appreciate and understand all of their work.
"So tell me darlin', do you wish we'd fall in love?" When this is said, I think that their in between a relationship and being friends, and they don't know what they really want to be, but they both know that if they want to, they could let themselves fall in love with each other.
My personal favorite off of Ocean Eyes :)
first of all i am in looove with this guy!!! great music, finally something different. ok i think this song is about being inlove with someone and them loving you but the 2 never admitt to eachother they love the other. and just wanting them to move past that. just my opinion.