"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.
Lead me or follow
Feed me or swallow
If this ain't the real thing I don't want the real thing
Ignore me, I sit here, I know where I fit here
You don't give a shit dear but really I do
Oh take me with you, I'd crawl through coal to kiss you
Just give me that sign and then I'll be
I used to be so tired a bit like I had expired
But woman you saved me, you came and enslaved me
Now I know exactly what to do, I know exactly where to go
This is just how I dreamt it might turn out to be
Come on disrespect me cause I know that you'll protect me
Just give me that sign and then I'll be here, yeah
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter
Nothing seems to matter
Stars spinning round me, how will they ever find me
Everything seems so long ago
There's no need to worry cause we don't need anybody
Just give me that sign and then I'll be here, yeah
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter [x5]
Nothing seems to matter
Feed me or swallow
If this ain't the real thing I don't want the real thing
Ignore me, I sit here, I know where I fit here
You don't give a shit dear but really I do
Oh take me with you, I'd crawl through coal to kiss you
Just give me that sign and then I'll be
I used to be so tired a bit like I had expired
But woman you saved me, you came and enslaved me
Now I know exactly what to do, I know exactly where to go
This is just how I dreamt it might turn out to be
Come on disrespect me cause I know that you'll protect me
Just give me that sign and then I'll be here, yeah
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter
Nothing seems to matter
Stars spinning round me, how will they ever find me
Everything seems so long ago
There's no need to worry cause we don't need anybody
Just give me that sign and then I'll be here, yeah
Baby when I'm with you nothing seems to matter [x5]
Nothing seems to matter
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Mr. Universe Lyrics as written by Matthew Hales Ben Hales
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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
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.
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.
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.