"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.
I never meant to wither
I wanted to be tall
Like a fool left the river
And watched my branches fall
Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood
To come back around
To the cactus in the valley
That's about to crumble down
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
So, the storm finally found me
And left me in the dark
In the cloud around me
I don't know where you are
If this whole world goes up in arms
All I can do is stand
And I won't fight for anyone
Until you move my hand
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
In the shadow
Here I am
And I need someone by my side
It becomes so
Hard to stand
And I keep trying to dry my eyes
Come and find me
In the valley
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
I wanted to be tall
Like a fool left the river
And watched my branches fall
Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood
To come back around
To the cactus in the valley
That's about to crumble down
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
So, the storm finally found me
And left me in the dark
In the cloud around me
I don't know where you are
If this whole world goes up in arms
All I can do is stand
And I won't fight for anyone
Until you move my hand
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
In the shadow
Here I am
And I need someone by my side
It becomes so
Hard to stand
And I keep trying to dry my eyes
Come and find me
In the valley
And wipe the mark of sadness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
And wipe the mark of madness from my face
Show me that your love will never change
If my yesterday is a disgrace
Tell me that you still recall my name
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Cactus in the Valley Lyrics as written by Valerie Poxleitner
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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
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.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I feel like this song has a spiritual meaning, mostly Christian, only because I am going through the same thing and it touched me.
"I never meant to wither I wanted to be tall Like a fool left the river And watched my branches fall"
-To me this verse sets the tone, it seems like the narrator has come to a conclusion that they made a mistake. "I wanted to be tall" basically says they made a certain choice out of pride which is why they left the river. Rivers in literature have many meanings but the most common one in western society is the river of baptism. Once you are baptized you buried your past and thus you look forward to living a pure way. The person left the river, or the pure life (or the grace of God), in order to pursue a vain life style where they wanted power, fame, ect... But in the end she sees her branches fall, branches could be something that is a part of her, like she's seeing herself change for the worse and then her world starts to fall apart.
"Old and thirsty, I longed for the flood To come back around To the cactus in the valley That's about to crumble down"
-Now they are worn and thirsty (or missing something that is essential like guidance, happiness, ect...) and they wanted happiness and grace to come flooding back to the "cactus" (or them figuratively since now they are a cactus instead of a flower from the river) who probably wants to give up, have a melt down, or is about to ruin itself. The valley could have a correlation to "the valley of the shadow of death," as Christians refer to it as "worldly life" where there is no life since there is no presence of God.
"And wipe the mark of sadness from my face Show me that your love will never change If my yesterday is a disgrace Tell me that you still recall my name"
-Now she's basically asking God to forgive her (she's repenting) even if her yesterday or her past actions are bad. And she's also asking him to make her happy again and to show her that he still loves her and remembers who she is since her life is probably falling apart and thus making her sad.
"So, the storm finally found me And left me in the dark In the cloud around me I don't know where you are"
"And wipe the mark of madness from my face"
-This could mean a) she's gone mad and she needs God to help and heal her or b) like me she probably left because she was upset with something (in my case getting pressured) and she now wants to get over it.
"Oh, here In the shadow Here I am And I need someone by my side It becomes so Hard to stand And I keep trying to dry my eyes Come and find me In the valley"
-She's telling God that she's in the "shadow" and that she needs him because she never imagined life without him could be so hard, she tries to dry her eyes or pretending that she isn't sad but she can't keep on doing it so she's asking God to find her in the "Valley of the Shadow of Death."
Yup, I definitely know where she's coming from.