"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.
We've got a long way to go
Before we finish our patrol
Light burns off in the distance
No one dares make a sound
Scared we might wake the snow
Sleeping giants love to listen
And tethered together by lines of gold
Two of my brothers on patrol
Our breathing keeps us in rhythm
Well honey I know it's getting cold
Eye on the wool cape you have wove
I can smell your lavender and lipstick
You would never, ask me when I'm coming home
You know better, than to wait and watch the snow
While the other wives and mothers pray and count their rosaries
Not my lover, her lipstick lavender keeps her close to me
One, Two
One, Two, Three, Four
Hold me close as the hour escapes
Sunlight running on the mountain's ravenous face
The moon came too soon and it'll stay out too late
And I can feel that goddamn bell before they ring it
Gold heats in your hair promptly at 4 p.m.
Then cool to amber as the sun sets again
The light through the blinds paints patterns on skin
Your head dovetails so nicely on my chest where you laid it
When I'm out in the shop, faced to the forge
I think of you, my love, as I tend to the coals
Smiths with flames high in their eyes are all for show
Dreaming, lying to themselves that they've bridled Hades
A fire's that's good take patience, control
Even bellow breathing this work is painfully slow
But you must hold on because you'll taste the reward
When that white iron draws out, just like it was painted
I know you know this, but I tell you this time
Because I need to say it out loud to feel right
You listen to me whisper it, my lips graze you ear with every line
And you memorize every word, just as I say it
Press into me, leave marks in my side
And I promise to pull you in until my knuckles go white
You're breathing with me now as the sun slips behind the mountain ridge to the west
And the day is finished
Before we finish our patrol
Light burns off in the distance
No one dares make a sound
Scared we might wake the snow
Sleeping giants love to listen
And tethered together by lines of gold
Two of my brothers on patrol
Our breathing keeps us in rhythm
Well honey I know it's getting cold
Eye on the wool cape you have wove
I can smell your lavender and lipstick
You would never, ask me when I'm coming home
You know better, than to wait and watch the snow
While the other wives and mothers pray and count their rosaries
Not my lover, her lipstick lavender keeps her close to me
One, Two
One, Two, Three, Four
Hold me close as the hour escapes
Sunlight running on the mountain's ravenous face
The moon came too soon and it'll stay out too late
And I can feel that goddamn bell before they ring it
Gold heats in your hair promptly at 4 p.m.
Then cool to amber as the sun sets again
The light through the blinds paints patterns on skin
Your head dovetails so nicely on my chest where you laid it
When I'm out in the shop, faced to the forge
I think of you, my love, as I tend to the coals
Smiths with flames high in their eyes are all for show
Dreaming, lying to themselves that they've bridled Hades
A fire's that's good take patience, control
Even bellow breathing this work is painfully slow
But you must hold on because you'll taste the reward
When that white iron draws out, just like it was painted
I know you know this, but I tell you this time
Because I need to say it out loud to feel right
You listen to me whisper it, my lips graze you ear with every line
And you memorize every word, just as I say it
Press into me, leave marks in my side
And I promise to pull you in until my knuckles go white
You're breathing with me now as the sun slips behind the mountain ridge to the west
And the day is finished
Lyrics submitted by stagnate
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
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.
To me this song is about two men who love the same woman.
One man, who has loved this lady for a spell, is out on patrol for the winter while the metal forger is at home getting close to the lady.
Could also be interpreted as two separate love stories but when combined it becomes poignant.