"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 was running out in the cold light,
Wondering where to go
To run away, without you
All my fear is coming home,
And it's ripped out for the show
You can't be me,
I will become you, tonight
I was wandering under black skies,
Clutching at what is mine
No control, left to lose
When I felt that it wouldn't phase me,
I ran and hid like a child
I feel so guilty,
I'll make it up to you, tonight
Bridges I've been dreaming are going down,
They're changing my future
Visions I had buried underground,
Return us our futures
I was breaking out of my own skin,
Choking upon release
I'm in no state, to judge you
Scratching itches best left alone,
Chasing memories I used to own
I can't wait until this is over, tonight
Bridges I've been dreaming are going down,
They're changing my future
Visions I had buried underground,
Return us our futures
Well the nightmares I've been having have arrived,
They're changing my future
Signs of my creation at my door,
How could you do this to her?
Wondering where to go
To run away, without you
All my fear is coming home,
And it's ripped out for the show
You can't be me,
I will become you, tonight
I was wandering under black skies,
Clutching at what is mine
No control, left to lose
When I felt that it wouldn't phase me,
I ran and hid like a child
I feel so guilty,
I'll make it up to you, tonight
Bridges I've been dreaming are going down,
They're changing my future
Visions I had buried underground,
Return us our futures
I was breaking out of my own skin,
Choking upon release
I'm in no state, to judge you
Scratching itches best left alone,
Chasing memories I used to own
I can't wait until this is over, tonight
Bridges I've been dreaming are going down,
They're changing my future
Visions I had buried underground,
Return us our futures
Well the nightmares I've been having have arrived,
They're changing my future
Signs of my creation at my door,
How could you do this to her?
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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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.
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Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
actually, "phase" should be spelled "faze". :*