"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.
The boy looks high
He looks higher than the sky
You an see it in his eyes
Watch as he tries
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
The city never lets you go
So you never try
It's bigger than a breadbox
Texas, California
His path was on the parks, running Knik to Pittman
The city was a shotgun ending in sunshine
Sunshine never ends, so he never tries
Well we dug a hole
Filled it up with other holes (filled it up with other holes)
With these other holes
We found a home
Hid away our hungry men
If it takes us sixty years, I'll go
The boy looks high
He looks higher than the sky
You an see it in his eyes
Watch how he cries
The path was on a straight line
Church Street to Houston
Houston to the butte
Coming straight back to Houston
Well we dug a hole
Filled it up with other holes, with these other holes
We dug a hole
And buried all those hungry men (all the hungry men)
If it takes us sixty years, if it takes us sixty years
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
Well, we found a hole
We found it with some other holes
And we climbed inside
We climbed back out
We left 'em by the hungry men
All the hungry men
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man (the straight man)
The boy looks high
He looks higher than the sky (if it takes us sixty years)
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
If it takes us sixty years
Filled it up with other holes, with these other holes
If it takes us sixty years
Filled it up with other holes
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He looks higher than the sky
You an see it in his eyes
Watch as he tries
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
The city never lets you go
So you never try
It's bigger than a breadbox
Texas, California
His path was on the parks, running Knik to Pittman
The city was a shotgun ending in sunshine
Sunshine never ends, so he never tries
Well we dug a hole
Filled it up with other holes (filled it up with other holes)
With these other holes
We found a home
Hid away our hungry men
If it takes us sixty years, I'll go
The boy looks high
He looks higher than the sky
You an see it in his eyes
Watch how he cries
The path was on a straight line
Church Street to Houston
Houston to the butte
Coming straight back to Houston
Well we dug a hole
Filled it up with other holes, with these other holes
We dug a hole
And buried all those hungry men (all the hungry men)
If it takes us sixty years, if it takes us sixty years
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
Well, we found a hole
We found it with some other holes
And we climbed inside
We climbed back out
We left 'em by the hungry men
All the hungry men
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man (the straight man)
The boy looks high
He looks higher than the sky (if it takes us sixty years)
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
The city never lets him go
So he never tries
If it takes us sixty years
Filled it up with other holes, with these other holes
If it takes us sixty years
Filled it up with other holes
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high (if it takes me)
The boy looks high
The boy looks high
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig a hole and find a fire
If it takes us sixty years
I'll dig another hole
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
He got it in his head he'd make
More money than the straight man, the straight man
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Jane's Addiction
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"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
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.
in my opinion i think its about a drugdealer. maybe the holes being the drugs and the hungry men the customers he hooks too the drugs. might just be narrow minded but that seems like the obvious story line. listen and view the lyrics in that sense ya might see what i mean. but only portugal truly know the truth. could just be about nothing. artists like too do that shit, just comes out of nowhere but their hearts. loveeee this effin band