"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.
You're a troublemaker (you're a troublemaker)
Ha
You ain't nothing but a troublemaker, girl
You had me hooked again from the minute you sat down
The way you bite your lip
Got my head spinnin' around
After a drink or two
I was putty in your hands
I don't know if I'll have the strength to stand
Oh whoa, trouble, troublemaker, yeah
That's your middle name, oh whoa
I know you're no good but you're stuck in my brain
And I wanna know, why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can"
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
It's like you're always there in the corners of my mind
I see a silhouette every time I close my eyes
There must be poison in those finger tips of yours
'Cause I keep comin' back again for more
Oh whoa, trouble, troublemaker, yeah
That's your middle name, oh whoa
I know you're no good but you're stuck in my brain
And I wanna know, why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can"
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad? (Hurt so bad, yeah)
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker (yeah)
Maybe I'm insane
'Cause I keep doing the same damn thing
Thinkin' one day we gon' change
But you know just how to work that back
And make me forget my name
What the hell you do I won't remember
I'll be gone until November
And you'll show up again next summer, yeah
Typical middle name is Prada
Fit you like a glove, girl, I'm sick of the drama
You're a troublemaker
But, damn, girl, it's like I love the trouble
And I can't even explain (yeah) why
Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa (whoa), my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
(Yeah) I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Why does it feel so good (oh) but hurt so bad? (And I can't even explain why)
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Ha
You ain't nothing but a troublemaker, girl
You had me hooked again from the minute you sat down
The way you bite your lip
Got my head spinnin' around
After a drink or two
I was putty in your hands
I don't know if I'll have the strength to stand
Oh whoa, trouble, troublemaker, yeah
That's your middle name, oh whoa
I know you're no good but you're stuck in my brain
And I wanna know, why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can"
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
It's like you're always there in the corners of my mind
I see a silhouette every time I close my eyes
There must be poison in those finger tips of yours
'Cause I keep comin' back again for more
Oh whoa, trouble, troublemaker, yeah
That's your middle name, oh whoa
I know you're no good but you're stuck in my brain
And I wanna know, why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can"
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad? (Hurt so bad, yeah)
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker (yeah)
Maybe I'm insane
'Cause I keep doing the same damn thing
Thinkin' one day we gon' change
But you know just how to work that back
And make me forget my name
What the hell you do I won't remember
I'll be gone until November
And you'll show up again next summer, yeah
Typical middle name is Prada
Fit you like a glove, girl, I'm sick of the drama
You're a troublemaker
But, damn, girl, it's like I love the trouble
And I can't even explain (yeah) why
Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?
Whoa (whoa), my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
(Yeah) I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Why does it feel so good (oh) but hurt so bad? (And I can't even explain why)
Whoa, my mind keeps saying, "Run as fast as you can" (troublemaker)
I say I'm done but then you pull me back
Whoa, I swear you're giving me a heart attack, troublemaker
Lyrics submitted by bandtrumpet7
Troublemaker Lyrics as written by Claude Kelly Breyan Stanley Isaac
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
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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.
Plastic Bag
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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.
In a nutshell, the person singing falls in love with a troublemaker! (who would have guessed, right?) He likes the girl even though he knows she will get her into trouble if they start dating. In a strange way, the singer is attracted to the rebelliousness of the girl, so it becomes even harder for him to ignore her.