"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.
Would you hold it against me if I say that, “I’ve been missing you lately?”
Do you remember when we sat outside my house
Watched stars cascade, turning into something else?
You said you would travel, I said you should
You said you would travel, I knew you would
It’s not the first time I felt this way
I will be better for this. I will
And from our time spent alone we’ll have stories to tell
I will be better for this, I will. I will
Go talk to your friends like I’m somebody else
Like I’m the man that you need when I’m the boy that you shelved
Go talk to your friends, I’m finally somebody else
Complacent on a shelf
And you held it against me when I said everything about how fucked up this really is
Home by 8, but you wouldn’t notice ‘cause no ones around anymore
You moved across the country, said goodbye to your friends and you skipped my street
Nothing but a dead end
I will be better for this. I will
And from our time spent alone we’ll have stories to tell
I will be better for this, I will. I will
Go talk to your friends like I’m somebody else
Like I’m the man that you need when I’m the boy that you shelved
Go talk to your friends, I’m finally somebody else
Complacent on a shelf
I guess it’s common sense for me to shake like this
I’ve seen weaker men learn how to deal with it
I guess it’s common sense for me to shake like this
I’ve seen weaker men learn how to deal with it
Fell asleep to faith on tv, it kept belief alive in me
(Best intentions? Worst decisions.)
You’re the faith healer of my dreams
You leave my life so recklessly
Put the fear of God in me, and hush me back to sleep
(Best intentions? Worst decisions.)
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
Do you remember when we sat outside my house
Watched stars cascade, turning into something else?
You said you would travel, I said you should
You said you would travel, I knew you would
It’s not the first time I felt this way
I will be better for this. I will
And from our time spent alone we’ll have stories to tell
I will be better for this, I will. I will
Go talk to your friends like I’m somebody else
Like I’m the man that you need when I’m the boy that you shelved
Go talk to your friends, I’m finally somebody else
Complacent on a shelf
And you held it against me when I said everything about how fucked up this really is
Home by 8, but you wouldn’t notice ‘cause no ones around anymore
You moved across the country, said goodbye to your friends and you skipped my street
Nothing but a dead end
I will be better for this. I will
And from our time spent alone we’ll have stories to tell
I will be better for this, I will. I will
Go talk to your friends like I’m somebody else
Like I’m the man that you need when I’m the boy that you shelved
Go talk to your friends, I’m finally somebody else
Complacent on a shelf
I guess it’s common sense for me to shake like this
I’ve seen weaker men learn how to deal with it
I guess it’s common sense for me to shake like this
I’ve seen weaker men learn how to deal with it
Fell asleep to faith on tv, it kept belief alive in me
(Best intentions? Worst decisions.)
You’re the faith healer of my dreams
You leave my life so recklessly
Put the fear of God in me, and hush me back to sleep
(Best intentions? Worst decisions.)
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
It never was a choice to leave it’s something I must do for me
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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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.