"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.
Bend my finger back (snap)
Wrap it in a paper towel
Break a twig in half and set it straight
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me with a canister that's fired while
The soldiers drive away
Bend my finger back (snap)
On and on and on and on for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a yankee, like a son of
Freedom never as a slave
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
Bless me with a heart attack
A real crise cardiaque
And show me where to find the surgeon's knife
Eviscerate me now (hack)
Take me to my punishment
The punishment I've needed all my life
Bend my finger (snap)
On and on and on and on with strife
Listen to my bum rap
Listen to the evidence exonerating me from being right
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
I know that I've been wicked and the road to hell is wide
Cursed by curiosity that made us go inside
Everyone was charming but they took us for a ride
But baby, you're not anybody's fool
Bend my finger back (snap)
Wrap it in a paper towel
Break a twig in half and set it straight
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me with a canister that's fired while
The soldiers drive away
Bend my finger back (snap)
On and on and on and on for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a yankee, like a son of
Freedom never as a slave
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
The harpsichord is broken and the television's fried
The city's getting hotter like a country in decline
Everyone's a coward when you look them in the eyes
But baby, you're not anybody's fool
Sing next year in Jerusalem
You know - the one at W. 103rd and Broadway?
'Cause this Orthodox girl fell in love with the guy at the falafel shop
And why not?
Should she have averted her eyes and
Just stared at the laminated poster of the dome of the rock?
Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Condolences to gentle hearts who couldn't bear to try
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Wrap it in a paper towel
Break a twig in half and set it straight
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me with a canister that's fired while
The soldiers drive away
Bend my finger back (snap)
On and on and on and on for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a yankee, like a son of
Freedom never as a slave
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
Bless me with a heart attack
A real crise cardiaque
And show me where to find the surgeon's knife
Eviscerate me now (hack)
Take me to my punishment
The punishment I've needed all my life
Bend my finger (snap)
On and on and on and on with strife
Listen to my bum rap
Listen to the evidence exonerating me from being right
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
I know that I've been wicked and the road to hell is wide
Cursed by curiosity that made us go inside
Everyone was charming but they took us for a ride
But baby, you're not anybody's fool
Bend my finger back (snap)
Wrap it in a paper towel
Break a twig in half and set it straight
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me with a canister that's fired while
The soldiers drive away
Bend my finger back (snap)
On and on and on and on for days
Hit me with a wood bat
Hit me like a yankee, like a son of
Freedom never as a slave
It's etiquette, you idiot
Spend time behind the line
Show sympathy to LA where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody wants you, but baby you are mine
And baby you're not anybody's fool
The harpsichord is broken and the television's fried
The city's getting hotter like a country in decline
Everyone's a coward when you look them in the eyes
But baby, you're not anybody's fool
Sing next year in Jerusalem
You know - the one at W. 103rd and Broadway?
'Cause this Orthodox girl fell in love with the guy at the falafel shop
And why not?
Should she have averted her eyes and
Just stared at the laminated poster of the dome of the rock?
Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Condolences to gentle hearts who couldn't bear to try
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Remembrances of holy days in Tarrytown and Rye
I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by billjohn, dodgerblue
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Fast Car
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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."
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Ezra said in an interview that this is a true story about a Jewish girl that fell in love with an Arabic guy who worked at the falafel shop called Jerusalem and there is actually a laminated poster of the dome of the rock. "Condolences to gentle hearts who couldn't bear to try I don't wanna live like this but I don't wanna die" Maybe he's talking about people who didn't try out new relationships because of their race etc. Feel free to add more
Give us a link to that interview please!!!!
I like your comment and would love to add a couple of things to it.<br /> <br /> Firstly, I believe that the Jerusalem being "you know - the one at W. 103rd and Broadway?" is important, because he's clarifying (and also providing some verbal irony) the fact that it's not really Jerusalem he's talking about. This is important, because there's a theme of fake things versus real life occurring in this little spoken verse.<br /> <br /> After he acknowledges this fact he continues to say that this (presumably American) Orthodox Jewish girl found herself falling in love with someone who historically people of her culture are supposed to hate.<br /> <br /> Then, by saying:<br /> <br /> "And why not?<br /> Should she have averted her eyes and<br /> Just stared at the laminated poster of the dome of the rock?"<br /> <br /> He's basically prodding the audience and asking not only what's wrong with this scenario, but why should anyone choose tradition or historical prejudice over here and now?<br /> <br /> The restaurant is called Jerusalem, but it isn't Jerusalem...the picture of the dome of the rock is laminated to stand up to time, but it's just a picture. Is she supposed to continue to live her life based on images, imitations and interpretations of her historical homeland? Or choose to live a new life by her own moral compass?<br /> <br /> She can start a new life and step outside of her historical background by simply embracing those around her. Maybe it's not being a good girl (from the Orthodox perspective), but what does the tradition really offer her in today's society? Laminated pictures of her supposed homeland that's thousands of miles away?<br /> <br /> It is an obvious choice.
"Hit me with a canister that's fired while The soldiers drive away"
I believe this refers to the infamous killing of a Palestinian by an Israeli soldier in 2011. You can read about it here:
btselem.org/press_releases/20131205_mag_closes_file_on_mustafa_tamimi_killing
Mustafa Tamimi was killed during a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh when a soldier in a moving vehicle hit him with a tear gas canister during a demonstration.
Ezra Koenig, being a diaspora Jew, spent lots of time in Israel before and during the production of this album. The MVOTC album itself is a confrontation and a near-rejection of his own Jewish identity - with Finger Back and Ya Hey cutting closer to the bone than any other songs on the album.
Israeli citizens are required to serve at least two years in the military. The entire first verse (bend my finger back...on and on for days) refers to the rigorous training that goes into preparing for combat. From an extreme leftist point of view, this could represent brainwashing of IDF troops as well.
Many diaspora Jews spend time on the line as well because it's an honor to their family and a service to their motherland. The song's chorus alludes to this (it's etiquette, you idiot, spend time behind the line). The following verses allude to the influx of interest in Israel and Jewish culture as of late, what with migration of diaspora Jews into Israel, desire for Jewish conversion (everybody wants you, but baby you are mine) but Koenig, disagreeing with Israel's political and military culture, is embarrassed of the country's wrongdoings and calls them out (baby, you're not anybody's fool).
The second verse is Koenig's subsequent lamentation (bless me with a heart attack...exonerating me from being right). He is unhappy with the actions of the Jewish state with which he is associated by birth.
The combination of Koenig's observation of Israeli military culture and his expression of grief at what he has found lay the perfect foundation for the story of the Orthodox girl and the falafel shop guy (who, after verse 1 and 2, we can assume is Palestinian). These verses are very literal. This story and the lyrical break at the end of the song bring the entire story back home to New York. This is to emphasize that despite the fact that the conflict is far away from the US, it affects everyone from teenage soldiers there to would-be lovers in the US.
i think that the very literal meaning is about tourture and how the protagonist is asking for it but i'm not smart enough to figure out the rest...
Jerusalem used to sell really good falafel.
I think this song resembles the hate between Islam and Judaism, Like the general middle east, and the intervention there. Both countries capture and torture, and i think this song generally is about men of faith being tortured. Also the talking bit about the orthodox girl falling in love with the guy. Amazing song overall, i love how MVOTC is so spiritual.
Read previous comment that is about another romance, but same idea but when read thought was him for himself personally. But that love that is also poison painful.
I thought was the actually girl making the love painful, she didn't reciprocate it or was a wild type self destructive to have someone soft for them in pain both personally and for them but being hopeless to do anything about either.
I just like the way that the song ends up being about star-crossed lovers even though it doesn't start out that way.
I found the falafel place!\nYou know, the one at 103rd and Broadway?\n[google.com/maps/place/Jerusalem/@36.5093752,-80.9367813,4.64z/data=!3m1!5s0x89c2f625ab97ba31:0xf0f17a48b3d1f675!4m9!1m2!2m1!1sfalafel!3m5!1s0x89c2f625aba22861:0xccf2ffb21fe88dd3!8m2!3d40.7997301!4d-73.9685277!15sCgdmYWxhZmVsWgkiB2ZhbGFmZWySARBoYWxhbF9yZXN0YXVyYW50mgEjQ2haRFNVaE5NRzluUzBWSlEwRm5TVVJyYm5WbWRrVm5FQUU](http://nhttps://www.google.com/maps/place/Jerusalem/@36.5093752,-80.9367813,4.64z/data=!3m1!5s0x89c2f625ab97ba31:0xf0f17a48b3d1f675!4m9!1m2!2m1!1sfalafel!3m5!1s0x89c2f625aba22861:0xccf2ffb21fe88dd3!8m2!3d40.7997301!4d-73.9685277!15sCgdmYWxhZmVsWgkiB2ZhbGFmZWySARBoYWxhbF9yZXN0YXVyYW50mgEjQ2haRFNVaE5NRzluUzBWSlEwRm5TVVJyYm5WbWRrVm5FQUU)
It's saying that the kind of torture that the prisoners at Guantanamo bay suffer is no different than the way Muslims and Middle Easterners suffer from racism in the US
LOL Muslim suffer from racism LOL.