"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.
Mmmm yeahhh mmm.
Hey boy I would have thought that when you left me
I'd be broken with my confidence gone, so gone
Hey boy I would have thought that when you said
That you don't want me
I'd feel ugly and sense something was wrong
Standin' front of the mirror, my skins never been clearer
My smile has never been wider.
I look so good without you,
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies,
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you
Hey I never would have thought that when you left me
I'd feel sexy and so good in my skin again
And I never would have known that I'd be dreamin' so much better without you in my head
Standin' in front of the mirror, my clothes never fit better
My, I've never been louder
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye.
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you.
Now baby my bodys lookin' better than before
Ain't bitin' my nails since you walked out of the door.
I realized now I deserve so much more, than what you give
Than what you give, ohh ohh
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
I look so good without you,
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Lookin' fresh and brand new
Since you said "that we're through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you
Hey boy I would have thought that when you left me
I'd be broken with my confidence gone, so gone
Hey boy I would have thought that when you said
That you don't want me
I'd feel ugly and sense something was wrong
Standin' front of the mirror, my skins never been clearer
My smile has never been wider.
I look so good without you,
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies,
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you
Hey I never would have thought that when you left me
I'd feel sexy and so good in my skin again
And I never would have known that I'd be dreamin' so much better without you in my head
Standin' in front of the mirror, my clothes never fit better
My, I've never been louder
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye.
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you.
Now baby my bodys lookin' better than before
Ain't bitin' my nails since you walked out of the door.
I realized now I deserve so much more, than what you give
Than what you give, ohh ohh
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
I look so good without you,
Got me a new hairdo
Looking fresh and brand new
Since you said "that were through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good without you
Got me a new hairdo
Lookin' fresh and brand new
Since you said "that we're through"
Done, with your lies
Baby now my tears dried
You can see my brown eyes
Ever since you said goodbye
I look so good, I look so good without you
I look so good, I look so good without you
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
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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,
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.
Punchline
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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.
this song is so empowering. Its about a girl realizing that her ex is not even worth the time and shes way too good for him.