"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.
Hey yo Mase, you know what I don't like?
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
I don't like when, you know, I'm in a club
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
And I'm with my honey
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
You got, you know, the haters
They wanna be tough guys all of the sudden
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Hit you with the ice grill, you know
Hehe, cause you boys ain't with you
Little do they know, your girl roll harder than
Some of yo niggas
Dig?
Now what the hell is you lookin' for?
Can't a young man get money anymore?
Let my pants sag down to the floor
Really do it matter as long as I score?
Can't my car look better than yours?
Can I have a bad bitch without no flaws
Come to see me without no drawers
In a stretch Lex with about ten doors?
How is murder?
P. Diddy name me pretty
Did it for the money, now can you get with me?
People wanna know who is he, he get busy
Spray so much izzy, girls get dizzy
Niggas on the block know Mase motto
One thing about Harlem World, we all got dough
98' Tahoe, Tommy and a Roscoe
Case I'm every chased by a Donny Brascoe
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Yo, I can't get mad cuz you look at me
Cuz on the real, look at me
Yo, it always be the haters that be sittin' in the rear
Dissin' every gear, but they better listen here
You cats keepin' it real, you cats is on yo own
Cuz bein' broke and alone is something I can't condone
Plus it won't be long till they send me the dome
Sit gently, while I'm on the Bentley phone
Why you don't like me?
Cuz I'm mad fly and icy?
And why you can't satisfy yo wifey
And if it wasn't for this Bad Boy exposure
CD, TV's, really would I know ya
Now me and blink float in the gold Rover
So it's only right you get the cold shoulder
And if you got a girl, don't be real committed
Cuz Mase will hit it, you got to deal with it
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
We don't stop
We was all at the Greek fest, it's hot and sandy
I rent scooters, I'm with my family
Tank top, flip flop, really nothing fancy
But get approached by a girl named Tammy
Who looked good enough to be Miss Miami
But say, since some her peeps call her Candy
Than she starts to ask about Aaliyah and Brandy
Tellin' me how she met Puff down at the Grammy's
He ain't tell you I was the one with no panties?
Boo, you know how many he meet with no panties?
Please, tell me something that I don't know
Like if we have sex, you don't want dough
And if it's not a problem you can meet me at 10
I'll be in room 112 and bring four friends
And if you gon' hit me, it gotta be a quickie
And please no hickies, cuz wifey's with me
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
I don't like when, you know, I'm in a club
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
And I'm with my honey
(Why you over there lookin' at me)
You got, you know, the haters
They wanna be tough guys all of the sudden
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Hit you with the ice grill, you know
Hehe, cause you boys ain't with you
Little do they know, your girl roll harder than
Some of yo niggas
Dig?
Now what the hell is you lookin' for?
Can't a young man get money anymore?
Let my pants sag down to the floor
Really do it matter as long as I score?
Can't my car look better than yours?
Can I have a bad bitch without no flaws
Come to see me without no drawers
In a stretch Lex with about ten doors?
How is murder?
P. Diddy name me pretty
Did it for the money, now can you get with me?
People wanna know who is he, he get busy
Spray so much izzy, girls get dizzy
Niggas on the block know Mase motto
One thing about Harlem World, we all got dough
98' Tahoe, Tommy and a Roscoe
Case I'm every chased by a Donny Brascoe
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Yo, I can't get mad cuz you look at me
Cuz on the real, look at me
Yo, it always be the haters that be sittin' in the rear
Dissin' every gear, but they better listen here
You cats keepin' it real, you cats is on yo own
Cuz bein' broke and alone is something I can't condone
Plus it won't be long till they send me the dome
Sit gently, while I'm on the Bentley phone
Why you don't like me?
Cuz I'm mad fly and icy?
And why you can't satisfy yo wifey
And if it wasn't for this Bad Boy exposure
CD, TV's, really would I know ya
Now me and blink float in the gold Rover
So it's only right you get the cold shoulder
And if you got a girl, don't be real committed
Cuz Mase will hit it, you got to deal with it
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
Make it hot baby, make it hot (come on)
We don't stop
We was all at the Greek fest, it's hot and sandy
I rent scooters, I'm with my family
Tank top, flip flop, really nothing fancy
But get approached by a girl named Tammy
Who looked good enough to be Miss Miami
But say, since some her peeps call her Candy
Than she starts to ask about Aaliyah and Brandy
Tellin' me how she met Puff down at the Grammy's
He ain't tell you I was the one with no panties?
Boo, you know how many he meet with no panties?
Please, tell me something that I don't know
Like if we have sex, you don't want dough
And if it's not a problem you can meet me at 10
I'll be in room 112 and bring four friends
And if you gon' hit me, it gotta be a quickie
And please no hickies, cuz wifey's with me
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Why you over there lookin' at me
While my girl standin' here
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.