"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 won't tell you how to live your life
So please stay far away from mine
Always watching out for which and whethers
Always running out of time
Drip drap
Peeling back the skin of summer
Autumns, everything aligns
Inside out and I'm without
My heart is always running out of time
Always running out of time
I have to know
If you'll float away with me
The faster I go
The further away it seems you get
Are we floating nowhere yet
Drip drop
Try to stop the forward motion
All hands tend to fall behind
Wasted whethers of the witch got steeper
Always running out of time
Always running out of time
I have to know
If you'll float away with me
The faster I go
The further away it seems you get
With all of me white
And all of her red
I should have stayed
But I lost my head
With all of our rhymes
Divorcing themselves
I should have stayed
But I lost my head
I should have stayed
But I lost myself
Always running out of time
So please stay far away from mine
Always watching out for which and whethers
Always running out of time
Drip drap
Peeling back the skin of summer
Autumns, everything aligns
Inside out and I'm without
My heart is always running out of time
Always running out of time
I have to know
If you'll float away with me
The faster I go
The further away it seems you get
Are we floating nowhere yet
Drip drop
Try to stop the forward motion
All hands tend to fall behind
Wasted whethers of the witch got steeper
Always running out of time
Always running out of time
I have to know
If you'll float away with me
The faster I go
The further away it seems you get
With all of me white
And all of her red
I should have stayed
But I lost my head
With all of our rhymes
Divorcing themselves
I should have stayed
But I lost my head
I should have stayed
But I lost myself
Always running out of time
Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
No Surprises
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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.
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.
I would have to say that this is one of Motion City Soundtrack's best songs. The Alice in Wonderland movie is going to be so sick! Although, I am still confused on the meaning of this song.
Well I see it as a song about losing a girl.
I'm not sure on the title "always running out of time" but it could refer to time with a girl or time to improve ones life.
Like the opening line "I won't tell you how to live your life, So please stay far away from mine" She is telling him what to do and he is like I don't tell you how to live your life so don't tell me how.
Then the chorus "I have to know If you'll float away with me The faster I go The further away it seems you get Are we floating nowhere yet" He's wants to know if they can go somewhere, either somewhere actual or just mental or emotional such as love and those kind of emotions. But he feels the faster he goes the farther she seems to become so I feel that supports the love thing.
And the last part "With all of me white And all of her red I should have stayed But I lost my head With all of our rhymes Divorcing themselves I should have stayed But I lost my head I should have stayed But I lost myself" The two of them are opposites. Now the red and white could be referencing Alice and Wonderland, but I'm not familiar with those stories. But in the sense were this song is about a couple, I would say maybe red could represent warmth and compassion while the white could represent cold and lack of emotion. Which could have caused him to distance himself from the relationship or cheat on her or just something of that sort. Which in turn caused him to lose himself and his head, metaphorically I would hope.
i can relate to this song personally. i think its that they wanted to be with someone, but they ended it (because of how the other lives their life?), and now they are regretting it.
and now, as time is moving on they just want somebody to love. but looking back at the past, even though that might have been a long time ago it seems like it was just yesterday. and the person is running out of time to get the other one back. i think the colors are like the white is like being empty, and the red is vibrant, and the person just wants it back.
i think the person realizes no matter if someone lives a different way or isn't what you pictured you would like, you love them, and you can't change it.
or they left because the other was telling them how to live their life, im not sure.
I have a different take on this song- it's one person of a couple wanting to move forward and see where life takes them in the world, and the other not wanting to leave.
"I won't tell you how to live your life So please stay far away from mine Always watching out for which and whethers Always running out of time"
The other (him) not wanting to make any decisions or really live.
"Drip drap Peeling back the skin of summer Autumns, everything aligns Inside out and I'm without My heart is always running out of time Always running out of time"
"Her" running our of time to follow her dreams.
"I have to know If you'll float away with me The faster I go The further away it seems you get Are we floating nowhere yet"
Now she needs to know if he'll come with her, because they haven't left yet.
"Drip drop Try to stop the forward motion All hands tend to fall behind Wasted whethers of the witch got steeper Always running out of time Always running out of time"
She's trying, now, and she's already a bit late.
"I have to know If you'll float away with me The faster I go The further away it seems you get"
It's his last chance- go with her. Don't get left behind.
"With all of me white And all of her red I should have stayed But I lost my head With all of our rhymes Divorcing themselves I should have stayed But I lost my head I should have stayed But I lost myself"
And now that she left, she's changed too much for him. She's finding herself regretting ever leaving. because now she's "lost herself" and they just won't work. Too different.
I have to disagree with most of the people up here. I know the story Alice in Wonderland very well, and have seen the movie many times. I'm pretty sure that this is from the White Rabbit's POV because it's talking about running out of time, and that last part really means: "With all of me white (the white rabbit) And all of her red (the queen of hearts!!) I should have stayed But I lost my head (his head got chopped off or something...that is the queen of hearts saying, after all) With all of our rhymes (the people of wonderland do love their rhymes) So yeah, it's basically about the white rabbit.