"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.
Keep climbing into my head without knockin'
And you fix yourself there like a map pin
On this ghost of this street where I'm livin'
I'm in a chrysalis and I'm snowed in
Darling, darling that dam's gonna give
It's inevitable the way that you live
Bottles in brown paper and a mouth that slurs
All the shit that it stirs
Let that dogwood blossom
There'll be hell to pay in heaven
For you take every street home
What happens when you're into deep to break
Loneliness keeps you constantly awake
What happens when the passage of time appears
You see yourself as a child and it brings you to tears
You say that you're troubled and you always have been
Uncomfortable in your own skin
So you contemplate the riverbed
Turn off the dark thoughts in your head
Darling, darling that dam's gonna give
It's inevitable the way that you live
Bottles in brown paper and a mouth that slurs
All the shit that it stirs
Let that dogwood blossom
There'll be hell to pay in heaven
For you take every street home
And you fix yourself there like a map pin
On this ghost of this street where I'm livin'
I'm in a chrysalis and I'm snowed in
Darling, darling that dam's gonna give
It's inevitable the way that you live
Bottles in brown paper and a mouth that slurs
All the shit that it stirs
Let that dogwood blossom
There'll be hell to pay in heaven
For you take every street home
What happens when you're into deep to break
Loneliness keeps you constantly awake
What happens when the passage of time appears
You see yourself as a child and it brings you to tears
You say that you're troubled and you always have been
Uncomfortable in your own skin
So you contemplate the riverbed
Turn off the dark thoughts in your head
Darling, darling that dam's gonna give
It's inevitable the way that you live
Bottles in brown paper and a mouth that slurs
All the shit that it stirs
Let that dogwood blossom
There'll be hell to pay in heaven
For you take every street home
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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Silent Planet
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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.
Blue
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
This song makes my dogwood blossom.
I think this song is about depression. But this is just my interpretation.
It's the feeling of having memories of someone or knowledge that they care about you. But you feel too far gone to acknowledge their concern. The feeling of being stuck in a situation, in a town, somewhere that has created these bad memories that have left you in this state of depression.
When you feel as though you could break at any moment, but at the same time you are too afraid to. So you occupy your mind with alcohol, or something else. You end up saying things you don't mean, maybe even pushing people around you away.
Lying awake at night, feeling empty and alone, unable to cry or sleep. But still unable to ignore the feeling. You close your eyes and let your mind drift, it takes you to memories so far back as you try to retrace your footsteps to see 'what went wrong'. But then you remember what it was like to be a child, to be innocent, to have wonder. And you want nothing but to feel that again.
You then admit to yourself/another that you are troubled. You think about leaving Earth, but you know that wont change anything. Whether it's pride or sense, you decide against it.
It's about making your way through all this, and building yourself through experience, awareness and living in the moment.
@Alexiskaylen I just discovered this song (and artist) on Normal People. I think the question you’ve given a strong reply to is “Who is You?” If you is depression, it makes sense. It enters without knocking and fixes itself like a map pin. But “Darlin”? The dam giving makes sense, the drinking the shit talking. Some part of me thinks he is talking to somebody else there. Your interpretation returns sense. With the verse about discomfort in skin, seeing yourself age and remembering childhood Brings you tears.. But I’m not sure about that chorus “Darlin Darrlin that dans gonna give,. It’s inevitable the way that you live. And the person who drinks from a bottle in a brown bag and slurs iinsults. Maybe those lines remind me so distinctly of somebody I know that I want her to hear them, whereas the remainder of the lyrics do not remind me of this girl. And it is played twice in Normal People during times. When they finally make love after painful distance from each other. The girl character Marianne suffers from really low self esteem while the male character can get depressed and does, but he is able to give love like a balm. Why put this song in those scenes?. I think I’m going to come around to your interpretation completely and no matter what, I thank you for sharing it. This song makes me cry.
@Alexiskaylen beautiful, thank you!<br />
beautiful.
an incredibly beautiful song off an amazing album i love the line 'what happens when the passage of time appears, see yourself as a child and it brings you to tears', says so much so easily and provokes so many thoughts. i think it shows the longevity he needs in a relationship
Cried my eyes out when this song was played on the final episode of 'This is England 88'. Absolutely beautiful.
this song means a tide i've gone by. the battle i've fought. " what happens when the passage of time appears? you see yourself as a child and it brings you to tears." this line is like turmeric to my wounds. it shows how someone just knows exactly what i feel like. with every passing breakdown, i am that little girl who was a strong kid but slowly as the time went by, i became someone so empty that it haunts me now to go back to my childhood.