"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.
One-two one-two
This is a groove, why'knahmsayin? We just gon' get down
My name is um, Biz Mark
Got my man Cool V in the um, in the um thang
And I can't forget my man, Everett-is-an-zell{?}
We gonna give love to
I'd like to give a very special um, thanks to my man LG
{?} and, I'd like to uhh, kick it a lil' somethin' like this
Check it out now
Words of wisdom, knowledge of understandin'
To be like me takes practice and plannin'
Come out fresh, like grand openin'
Fender bender, loan shark lender
Kareem changed his name, from Lew Alcindor
The Bob Barker, the {?} stopper
The mad harper, the Cyndi Lauper
To be or not to be a celebrity
A little, comedy with Eddie Murphy
Grandmaster Flash, Treacherous Three
And the King of Rockers, Run-D.M.C.
To all the girls and boys, like to make noise
Crazy gents, spendin' dollars and cents
Women and men that borrow and lend
And all the children that try to pretend
To be a Prince {?}, or Jackson
Now my man Michael loves to eat cycle
Crazy wings off the gravy train
My great dane Joey, so bowl a household
With the b-boy product that'll help them grow
We don't give 'em milk because that give 'em the craps
We feed 'em um, sausages and liver snaps
But seriously, I'm in the place to be
But it ain't a place to be without me me me
Between herpes and AIDS, I'd rather have VD
Gonorrhea syphilis is a real bad case
You get goner in her pants, rhea in her face
I wouldn't stick mine in her, behind
A without vine
One heck of mine, mine mine mine
And we gon' give a little shout out
This is a little shout out, right here
I just wanted to give it to 'em like this, knahmsayin'?
This goes out to my man Sweet G from The Fever
God bless you
And, this goes out to umm, Gangsta Lou
AZ from the Mossdown Crew
Freddie Jones {?} the whole 132 posse
Like the Wooka Wooka Girls, and Cuttin' Crew
And I, gotta give a, shout out to my man Londell
And Cornell, from the MVS, Cuttin' Crew
On a 148th Avenue
I gotta give a little shout out to my man
Unique and the Mega Audio Crew
I can't forget cool G. in the Willie's Lounge
And Willie got the good food up there with him
With them knahmsayin'? Okay
I'd like to give a little shout out to my man Cash Money from Philly
I gotta give a shout out to uhhhhhhh, DJ Roy
And Mike and God Build and the whole Rolls International Posse
At the Q Club, and, I can't forget my posse from umm
Long Island you know, you know what I'm talkin' about man
I'm talkin' about like the {?} Posse and all my boys like um
New York, Alvin and uhh EPMD and all them
And my man Redman and all them, yknahmsayin'
But lemme just kick a lil' somethin for you baby
Cause you know how we go, we go back like um British {?}
Uh-huh, uhhhhhhhhhh yeah
Okay, I would I would like to kick this out to my man
Umm, Big Joe from Farmers, uhh and me and my man {?}
And the whole Queens Posse like my man Big D
And the whole, everybody like I gotta give a shout out
To my man, uhh, Unique, and umm, Dewmar
They up in Greenhaven I think he got showtime I think he got showtime
And, this goes out to my man, my man, Aaron, and his pops
At the Sugar Hill baby, you know how that go
My man Ron Beard umm, The Mirage down in D.C.
I gotta give a shout out to Rare Essence, like my man Greyfoots
And my man Funk, you know how we do Funk baby
I gotta give a shout out to all my Jersey people, knamsayin' baby?
Like ummm, Alaganza, annnnnd, Skandals
I don't know if it's open any more, but uhh, we was there before
HEH, uh-heh, we gotta give a shout out to, Mirage
Club {?} Zanzibar, uhhh
Everybody downtown Elizabeth, midtown uptown Elizabeth
Gotta give a shout out to Lee-Lee, my man Haas
My man Kaseem, why'all know where he at, you know I know where he at baby
I gotta give a shoutout to Godfather D
And uh, Bee, you know Backspin, you know how we go, we go back
I gotta give a shoutout to Shawn Corleone
And the whole {?} M.J., Dre Dog, Kwan, Kev, Rudy
And the President {?}
And, I don't know if I forgot anybody, but
Uhh if I did I'm sorry, but I'd like to give a shout out
To you know my man Rob, my man Ricky, uh Raheem
My man Jim and we gon' get
This is a groove, why'knahmsayin? We just gon' get down
My name is um, Biz Mark
Got my man Cool V in the um, in the um thang
And I can't forget my man, Everett-is-an-zell{?}
We gonna give love to
I'd like to give a very special um, thanks to my man LG
{?} and, I'd like to uhh, kick it a lil' somethin' like this
Check it out now
Words of wisdom, knowledge of understandin'
To be like me takes practice and plannin'
Come out fresh, like grand openin'
Fender bender, loan shark lender
Kareem changed his name, from Lew Alcindor
The Bob Barker, the {?} stopper
The mad harper, the Cyndi Lauper
To be or not to be a celebrity
A little, comedy with Eddie Murphy
Grandmaster Flash, Treacherous Three
And the King of Rockers, Run-D.M.C.
To all the girls and boys, like to make noise
Crazy gents, spendin' dollars and cents
Women and men that borrow and lend
And all the children that try to pretend
To be a Prince {?}, or Jackson
Now my man Michael loves to eat cycle
Crazy wings off the gravy train
My great dane Joey, so bowl a household
With the b-boy product that'll help them grow
We don't give 'em milk because that give 'em the craps
We feed 'em um, sausages and liver snaps
But seriously, I'm in the place to be
But it ain't a place to be without me me me
Between herpes and AIDS, I'd rather have VD
Gonorrhea syphilis is a real bad case
You get goner in her pants, rhea in her face
I wouldn't stick mine in her, behind
A without vine
One heck of mine, mine mine mine
And we gon' give a little shout out
This is a little shout out, right here
I just wanted to give it to 'em like this, knahmsayin'?
This goes out to my man Sweet G from The Fever
God bless you
And, this goes out to umm, Gangsta Lou
AZ from the Mossdown Crew
Freddie Jones {?} the whole 132 posse
Like the Wooka Wooka Girls, and Cuttin' Crew
And I, gotta give a, shout out to my man Londell
And Cornell, from the MVS, Cuttin' Crew
On a 148th Avenue
I gotta give a little shout out to my man
Unique and the Mega Audio Crew
I can't forget cool G. in the Willie's Lounge
And Willie got the good food up there with him
With them knahmsayin'? Okay
I'd like to give a little shout out to my man Cash Money from Philly
I gotta give a shout out to uhhhhhhh, DJ Roy
And Mike and God Build and the whole Rolls International Posse
At the Q Club, and, I can't forget my posse from umm
Long Island you know, you know what I'm talkin' about man
I'm talkin' about like the {?} Posse and all my boys like um
New York, Alvin and uhh EPMD and all them
And my man Redman and all them, yknahmsayin'
But lemme just kick a lil' somethin for you baby
Cause you know how we go, we go back like um British {?}
Uh-huh, uhhhhhhhhhh yeah
Okay, I would I would like to kick this out to my man
Umm, Big Joe from Farmers, uhh and me and my man {?}
And the whole Queens Posse like my man Big D
And the whole, everybody like I gotta give a shout out
To my man, uhh, Unique, and umm, Dewmar
They up in Greenhaven I think he got showtime I think he got showtime
And, this goes out to my man, my man, Aaron, and his pops
At the Sugar Hill baby, you know how that go
My man Ron Beard umm, The Mirage down in D.C.
I gotta give a shout out to Rare Essence, like my man Greyfoots
And my man Funk, you know how we do Funk baby
I gotta give a shout out to all my Jersey people, knamsayin' baby?
Like ummm, Alaganza, annnnnd, Skandals
I don't know if it's open any more, but uhh, we was there before
HEH, uh-heh, we gotta give a shout out to, Mirage
Club {?} Zanzibar, uhhh
Everybody downtown Elizabeth, midtown uptown Elizabeth
Gotta give a shout out to Lee-Lee, my man Haas
My man Kaseem, why'all know where he at, you know I know where he at baby
I gotta give a shoutout to Godfather D
And uh, Bee, you know Backspin, you know how we go, we go back
I gotta give a shoutout to Shawn Corleone
And the whole {?} M.J., Dre Dog, Kwan, Kev, Rudy
And the President {?}
And, I don't know if I forgot anybody, but
Uhh if I did I'm sorry, but I'd like to give a shout out
To you know my man Rob, my man Ricky, uh Raheem
My man Jim and we gon' get
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Groovin' Lyrics as written by M Hall
Lyrics © CAK MUSIC PUBLISHING, INC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.