"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.
Yeah! All the ladies say hoo
All the hoes say (Hah! Hah! Hah!)
Gucci! Here we go, A-town, C-port
Cutmaster Swift down your throat, shawty
Boy, stop, Sir Luscious Left Foot's on fire
Tryna block my shine just ain't gon' happen, so don't try
Every time I get on this microphone I like to spit
Inking hit up after hit, this penmanship is so legit
I came equipped like a prophylactic, now they riding dicks
Like styling on these suckas out here tryna buy their bitch
Now they rich, try convince everybody to trick off
But a true boss done paid the cost, she giving away them drawers
Word to the brown James, he some chicken chow mein
Really mane, you done say some silly things
And the fella Dana Dane, boy, you cuffed, claimed a dame
Hey, my main thang got my last name, know what I mean?
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
They put Gucci in a cell then Madea went to jail
I make music, I make movies, I need Tyler Perry sales
Loud smell coming out the Lamb', fuck it, what the hell
Gucci Mane, so I'm Guccied down, she got on Chanel
In the cut rolling stupid kush like I'm in a rush
In the club with a half a pound, 150 blunts
Zone 6, East Atlanta's own, fuck with Nia Long
So I shine like it's showtime, all my jewelry on
On the block with my stupid watch, boy, you need to stop
When I stop, everybody watch, car don't have a top
In a stretch, cost a stupid check, roll another pack
And I'm gone, I can't even flick, Eastside, where you at? Gucci
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
Can't be trippin' 'bout no paper 'cause the safe is not so safe
The piggy bank got legs and feet and can get up and walk away, shawty
With my southern drawl, awkwardly I spray
Like the backside of a skunk and the stash house with the pump
Pistol grip in my lap at all times in the 'lac
From Atlanta to Savannah, can't a nigga stop that
Not when God's got his hands on me, only the strong survive
And the weak-minded are falling by the wayside, they try
But which I overcome and succeed, indeed
With success comes a great responsibility
We chose to lead not follow, it's a hard pill to swallow
Better get prescriptions filled 'cause there might not be tomorrow
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
All the hoes say (Hah! Hah! Hah!)
Gucci! Here we go, A-town, C-port
Cutmaster Swift down your throat, shawty
Boy, stop, Sir Luscious Left Foot's on fire
Tryna block my shine just ain't gon' happen, so don't try
Every time I get on this microphone I like to spit
Inking hit up after hit, this penmanship is so legit
I came equipped like a prophylactic, now they riding dicks
Like styling on these suckas out here tryna buy their bitch
Now they rich, try convince everybody to trick off
But a true boss done paid the cost, she giving away them drawers
Word to the brown James, he some chicken chow mein
Really mane, you done say some silly things
And the fella Dana Dane, boy, you cuffed, claimed a dame
Hey, my main thang got my last name, know what I mean?
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
They put Gucci in a cell then Madea went to jail
I make music, I make movies, I need Tyler Perry sales
Loud smell coming out the Lamb', fuck it, what the hell
Gucci Mane, so I'm Guccied down, she got on Chanel
In the cut rolling stupid kush like I'm in a rush
In the club with a half a pound, 150 blunts
Zone 6, East Atlanta's own, fuck with Nia Long
So I shine like it's showtime, all my jewelry on
On the block with my stupid watch, boy, you need to stop
When I stop, everybody watch, car don't have a top
In a stretch, cost a stupid check, roll another pack
And I'm gone, I can't even flick, Eastside, where you at? Gucci
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
Can't be trippin' 'bout no paper 'cause the safe is not so safe
The piggy bank got legs and feet and can get up and walk away, shawty
With my southern drawl, awkwardly I spray
Like the backside of a skunk and the stash house with the pump
Pistol grip in my lap at all times in the 'lac
From Atlanta to Savannah, can't a nigga stop that
Not when God's got his hands on me, only the strong survive
And the weak-minded are falling by the wayside, they try
But which I overcome and succeed, indeed
With success comes a great responsibility
We chose to lead not follow, it's a hard pill to swallow
Better get prescriptions filled 'cause there might not be tomorrow
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Hold up, hold up, guess who just showed up?
Rolled up, rolls cut, drop with the doors up
I'm on my grind, shawty, don't block my shine, shawty
Wait a minute, wait a minute, chill a little, sit a minute
I can't close my safe no more 'cause I got too much money in it
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
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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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.