"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.
Polished up and standing in a row
Wind up the gears, watch them go
People made of spring and sparks
Humming with electric hearts
Hoping for a ghost inside the shell
But if it's there it's hidden well
All we are is ticks and tocks
Seconds in a pocket watch
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Walking on a January lake
I feel the ice around me break
One more ripple in the pond
Stretches out until it's calm
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Wind up the gears, watch them go
People made of spring and sparks
Humming with electric hearts
Hoping for a ghost inside the shell
But if it's there it's hidden well
All we are is ticks and tocks
Seconds in a pocket watch
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Walking on a January lake
I feel the ice around me break
One more ripple in the pond
Stretches out until it's calm
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Oh you silly things
I've got you figured out
Lyrics submitted by ryanalbertjohnomar
John the Determinist Lyrics as written by Jeremy Matthew Messersmith
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
Love this song. To me it's about how robotic we've become as people. Love the last verse, "One more ripple in the pond, stretches out until it's calm" It just seems so unattached and final. Jeremy, you rock my world. Saw Mr. Messersmith live @ Grand Ole Day in St. Paul, MN. 6/6/10. Absolutely amazing live, if you get a chance, go and see him. Nice, funny, talented dude.
Amazing song. Just absolutely beautiful and stunning. Like most of Messersmith's work.