"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.
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
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.
I'm not a fan of Rhianna, I just came here because wondered what a rude boy was, lol. I don't see how this sends young girls a message that is any worse than the rest of the over-sexualized stuff on television/radio. in fact, this is sort of better. At least she is taking control of her own sexuality and owning it...she's doing it for HER, not to please some guy. I understand why guys would prefer the "how can I please you?" porno attitude of most starlets, but as far as young women are concerned, being the master of your own sexual experience is pretty much a good idea.
Forgot to add...seriously, most of pop culture is about "Are your breasts big enough? Is your waist small enough? Are you willing to do whatever I want you to do in bed?"<br /> Why is is suddenly offensive when a woman turns those questions around? Are we NOT supposed to have any need or wants? Are men the only ones who are supposed to matter when it comes to sex?
Amen! (although I came here looking for the same answer- "what is a rude boy"? lol)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I actually became very depressed reading all these negative reviews simply because it is a woman speaking about her sexuality. I am not even a big Rihanna fan but I have to give her respect now because I can see she probably got a lot of criticism in general going by most of these comments.<br /> Sex is natural, no one would be here without it! and it is more than okay to take pleasure in it!<br /> <br /> Side note: considering all the rock and roll/ rap videos which show women only as sexual objects it is equally okay for a woman to do the same. I like also that she goes after a root which men are very sensitive about THEIR PENIS SIZE!!!!!! (" come on rude boy, are you big enough?" IF I feel obliged to please a man in one of those rock/roll/rap videos I can always starve myself, get implants, plastic surgery, dye my hair, etc. But YOU will never be able to change your penis size!!! (surgery only give 1/4 inch most). So how does it feel to be judged and criticize for something you cant naturally control? (Which is what most modern women feel they must go through)<br /> <br /> She is giving those men a dose of their own medicine<br /> (I don't have a problem with women being sexualized if you choose to do so BUT a woman should be equally be free to do so without being called a whore, etc.!!<br /> <br /> Thank You again, it is good to know not everyone out there is narrow-minded and pro-censorship.<br /> <br />