"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.
All around the story's told
How Mary died out in the cold
On a hill about a mile out of town
They found her old man dead
In another woman's bed
And old Marys whole world came crashing down
She bit the finger off her hand
That wore the shiny wedding band
And sat there in the cold to wait to die
And who could what sparkled more
The diamond on the ring she wore
Or the shimmer in the frozen tears she cried
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So i will freely go with thee
Now Willy saved it hard
But he blew it all on rye and cards
He lost his shirt and one leg of his pants
He used to have more class
He had a horseshoe up his ass
He was a master of games of skill and chance
But that night was rough
When ol' Red called his bluff
And Willy was only holding pocket eights
You could see ol' Willy frown
When fifth street came 'round
Cause he knew ol' Red had finally made his straight
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So I will freely go with thee
I'm lousy at games of chance
I'm lousy at romance
And heck pretty much everything else it seems
But when I close my eyes
The curtain starts to raise
and Mr. skeleton comes dancing to my dreams
But when I wake at dawn
The dream lingers on
And vein left for better days I pray
But I've given up on cards
And love is just as hard
And I wonder when I lost the will to play
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So I will freely go with thee
How Mary died out in the cold
On a hill about a mile out of town
They found her old man dead
In another woman's bed
And old Marys whole world came crashing down
She bit the finger off her hand
That wore the shiny wedding band
And sat there in the cold to wait to die
And who could what sparkled more
The diamond on the ring she wore
Or the shimmer in the frozen tears she cried
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So i will freely go with thee
Now Willy saved it hard
But he blew it all on rye and cards
He lost his shirt and one leg of his pants
He used to have more class
He had a horseshoe up his ass
He was a master of games of skill and chance
But that night was rough
When ol' Red called his bluff
And Willy was only holding pocket eights
You could see ol' Willy frown
When fifth street came 'round
Cause he knew ol' Red had finally made his straight
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So I will freely go with thee
I'm lousy at games of chance
I'm lousy at romance
And heck pretty much everything else it seems
But when I close my eyes
The curtain starts to raise
and Mr. skeleton comes dancing to my dreams
But when I wake at dawn
The dream lingers on
And vein left for better days I pray
But I've given up on cards
And love is just as hard
And I wonder when I lost the will to play
And through the mist ol' Mr. Skeleton
I guess you're coming after me
I wont be missed ol' Mr. Skeleton
So I will freely go with thee
Lyrics submitted by wasmuthk
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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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.