"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 better slow down
Take a backseat, baby
Maybe this isn't your thing
On the Internet with eyes pried open
Regurgitating constantly
Still a child so misinformed
The concept of humility
You shun your own voice without a clue
"I swear I never do this type of thing"
You're a poison a bolster of cancer
Infectious, quick-spreading disease
Now I cringe at the thought of my childhood days
When we dressed up and asked, "Trick or Treat?"
Do you remember that text that you sent
The one that was just so important
You walked out of sight as I sang in your eyes
It might have meant nothing to you
But I have not forgotten
Please understand I want the best for both of us
But I'm heavy passion while you are one night lust (x2)
Congratulations sent as disrespect
I hope you learn the words to this song
I hope it's drilled into your brain
So you can learn from your mistakes
And carry on, carry on
(Please understand I want the best for both of us)
Take a backseat, baby
Maybe this isn't your thing
On the Internet with eyes pried open
Regurgitating constantly
Still a child so misinformed
The concept of humility
You shun your own voice without a clue
"I swear I never do this type of thing"
You're a poison a bolster of cancer
Infectious, quick-spreading disease
Now I cringe at the thought of my childhood days
When we dressed up and asked, "Trick or Treat?"
Do you remember that text that you sent
The one that was just so important
You walked out of sight as I sang in your eyes
It might have meant nothing to you
But I have not forgotten
Please understand I want the best for both of us
But I'm heavy passion while you are one night lust (x2)
Congratulations sent as disrespect
I hope you learn the words to this song
I hope it's drilled into your brain
So you can learn from your mistakes
And carry on, carry on
(Please understand I want the best for both of us)
Lyrics submitted by TonyHawk360
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.