"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.
If you croak, I hope you know I'm gonna toss you in the trash
You can't really blame us; we're only doing what you asked
If you have yourself a son, I'm gonna tell your baby boy
That Father Time's chock full of lies, so don't jump in just yet
Doubting Thomas deserves much more than we can give
If we win the lottery, let's buy an island just for him
So when that hurricane tries beating down the door
We can make him bat its eye 'til it can't see what's a...
Until we can't see what's ahead
Until we can't see what's ahead
You can sew me in stitches
Curse at the cautious
While it lasts
Cause soon we'll all forget
If we croak, I hope you know it's gonna be in single files
Hunting for models that were never worth the while
Each one of us caught heat for throwing Jack Frost in July
Staring at the sun 'til our eyes were done, we could not see what's a...
Until we can't see what's ahead
You can sew me in stitches
Curse at the cautious
While it lasts
Cause soon we'll all forget
You can't really blame us; we're only doing what you asked
If you have yourself a son, I'm gonna tell your baby boy
That Father Time's chock full of lies, so don't jump in just yet
Doubting Thomas deserves much more than we can give
If we win the lottery, let's buy an island just for him
So when that hurricane tries beating down the door
We can make him bat its eye 'til it can't see what's a...
Until we can't see what's ahead
Until we can't see what's ahead
You can sew me in stitches
Curse at the cautious
While it lasts
Cause soon we'll all forget
If we croak, I hope you know it's gonna be in single files
Hunting for models that were never worth the while
Each one of us caught heat for throwing Jack Frost in July
Staring at the sun 'til our eyes were done, we could not see what's a...
Until we can't see what's ahead
You can sew me in stitches
Curse at the cautious
While it lasts
Cause soon we'll all forget
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Dreamwalker
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.
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Just a guess, but this song might be about atheistic death
'Until we can't see what's ahead' --Old age, dying
'You can sew me in stitches Curse at the cautious While it lasts' --You can do whatever the hell you want while your life lasts
"Cause soon we'll all forget" --Nothing after death, nonexistence. No memories, just nothing.
wow...that's, in a nutshell, exactly how i feel about this song. strange...that's never happened before.<br /> <br /> I think you're absolutely right. the song is about the futility of life. it's actually a very depressing song with pretty much no silver-lining set to a very bouncy "la-la-la" rythm. It's very sarcastic fair to midland form; but in a different context...this time the lyrics themselves aren't tongue-in-cheek, they are very straight forward, but rather the depressing lyrics set to the upbeat music is what makes it so sardonic.<br /> <br /> of course there are the quintessential ftm turns of phrases. "doubting thomas deserves much more than we can give, if we win the lottery lets buy an island just for him." that line in itself is purposefully contradictory; but the essence of the song is that no matter what you do, no matter the mark you make in your lifetime, no matter how much people remember you, you will eventually be forgotten; therefore, aside from a religious afterlife standpoint (like you already said, the song is written in the context of an "atheistic death"), individual life is not building towards anything and doesn't really matter...legacies are always forgotten, and in time people always forget. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
To expound on the death of an atheist idea, I believe it's more about death in general and how atheists and theists view it and how that affects their lives.
"If you croak, I hope you know I'm gonna toss you in the trash You can't really blame us; we're only doing what you asked"
To an atheist once your life ends then that's that. Without life your body is essentially trash, as opposed to many religion's views that your body is a vessel to be treasured or preserved. So, to them, ritualistically preserving a body should be viewed as a waste of time.
"If you have yourself a son, I'm gonna tell your baby boy That Father Time's chock full of lies, so don't jump in just yet"
You come into the world being told you'll live a full life into old age, but that isn't the case for many. This is compounded by many religion's promising an eternal life following your mortal death. So, essentially, you're telling a child to live life to its fullest and to not be shackled to the promises of long and everlasting life since "Father Time's chock full of lies."
"Doubting Thomas deserves much more than we can give If we win the lottery, let's buy an island just for him So when that hurricane tries beating down the door We can make him bat its eye 'til it can't see what's a...
Until we can't see what's ahead"
The atheist (Doubting Thomas) is at death's door so the theist's attempt to convert him, for they think he is a good man and deserves more than they believe he'll get (hell) so they can get him his own island in paradise, provided that they are correct in their beliefs and thus win the afterlife lottery. So, the hurricane is beating on the door (death is knocking) and they attempt to make him blink and make him abandon his beliefs, or lack thereof. But at the end of the day, they can't see what's ahead despite all their assurances in their beliefs.
"Until we can't see what's ahead You can sew me in stitches Curse at the cautious While it lasts Cause soon we'll all forget"
The atheist rejects their attempts. They can attempt to repair him, curse his non-belief, while it lasts because eventually everyone dies and thus forgets their beliefs.
"If we croak, I hope you know it's gonna be in single files Hunting for models that were never worth the while"
The religious die and they believe they'll line up for paradise as they have spent their entire lives striving for something people dream for and desired during life but resisted due to the promise of it being there in paradise for them after death.
"Each one of us caught heat for throwing Jack Frost in July Staring at the sun 'til our eyes were done, we could not see what's a..."
They threw snow balls in the middle of summer, or generating controversy over the impossible. They blinded themselves and attempted to blind others to believe in something they could not see in the first place.