"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'm running just like the wind
A moving current, feel it pushing faster
It's pushing faster
I'm hiding you like a sin
A lonely liar, see you taking after
You’re taking after me
I’ve come so far
Against these odds
Been on my back
For way too long
But now I realize
It's not one problem
There's countless ways
I won't try to solve them
I'm caving in like a mine
I'm under pressure, feel it taking over
It's taking over
I'm living life like a lie
I'm losing judgement, shoulders growing colder
I'm growing colder
And I’ve broken down
So many walls
I never thought
I'd have to climb them now
It used to be so fun
I used to dream in light
But now I work in dark
I feel so worn and trite
I'm telling all my friends I love the highs and lows
But the truth is that I'd rather stay home alone
I'm making sure there's a path to make it harder for me
And make it harder to quit
Make it impossible
You won't believe
What I'm capable of
Buried bodies
This labor of my love
I silenced everyone
I silenced everyone
I’ve silenced all my critics
Silenced them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silence them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silenced them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silence them all by myself
Myself
Because I've come this far
I won't back down
I’ve struck a chord, inside myself and found
That there's no one else
Who can solve my problems
I can't admit to you that I regret them
And when I'm heading home, I wonder where to go
‘Cause I'm honestly afraid I might die alone
I'm making sure there's a path to make it harder for me
You won't believe what I'm capable of
A moving current, feel it pushing faster
It's pushing faster
I'm hiding you like a sin
A lonely liar, see you taking after
You’re taking after me
I’ve come so far
Against these odds
Been on my back
For way too long
But now I realize
It's not one problem
There's countless ways
I won't try to solve them
I'm caving in like a mine
I'm under pressure, feel it taking over
It's taking over
I'm living life like a lie
I'm losing judgement, shoulders growing colder
I'm growing colder
And I’ve broken down
So many walls
I never thought
I'd have to climb them now
It used to be so fun
I used to dream in light
But now I work in dark
I feel so worn and trite
I'm telling all my friends I love the highs and lows
But the truth is that I'd rather stay home alone
I'm making sure there's a path to make it harder for me
And make it harder to quit
Make it impossible
You won't believe
What I'm capable of
Buried bodies
This labor of my love
I silenced everyone
I silenced everyone
I’ve silenced all my critics
Silenced them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silence them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silenced them all except myself
I silenced everyone
Silence them all by myself
Myself
Because I've come this far
I won't back down
I’ve struck a chord, inside myself and found
That there's no one else
Who can solve my problems
I can't admit to you that I regret them
And when I'm heading home, I wonder where to go
‘Cause I'm honestly afraid I might die alone
I'm making sure there's a path to make it harder for me
You won't believe what I'm capable of
Lyrics submitted by ale5875
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
"I'm telling all my friends I love the highs and lows"... Shane's girlfriend's favourite band is Taking Back Sunday; their most popular album is called Tell All Your Friends, so it might be a slight reference to it. It's hard to think that Shane didn't ever think about that.