"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.
White page, an empty field of snow
My room is twenty-five below
This cold man chasing ghosts
A road lies underneath a buried boat
Dogs search the under forest
We scour the empty streets
The fact remains until we find you
Our lives are incomplete
Do I hear laughters through a veil of snow and ice?
Where could you be on such a lonely winter's night?
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face dreaming without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter from behind this veil of midnight?
What are you hiding in the frozen heart of winter?
Somewhere a church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
And then your trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter in the silence of the snow?
I know you're hiding in this frozen heart of winter
A midnight church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
Then the trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
I can't stop wanting you
My room is twenty-five below
This cold man chasing ghosts
A road lies underneath a buried boat
Dogs search the under forest
We scour the empty streets
The fact remains until we find you
Our lives are incomplete
Do I hear laughters through a veil of snow and ice?
Where could you be on such a lonely winter's night?
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face dreaming without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter from behind this veil of midnight?
What are you hiding in the frozen heart of winter?
Somewhere a church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
And then your trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter in the silence of the snow?
I know you're hiding in this frozen heart of winter
A midnight church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
Then the trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
I can't stop wanting you
Lyrics submitted by sillybunny
I Can't Stop Thinking About You Lyrics as written by Gordon Sumner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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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,
Magical
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Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
I agree with all the refugee stuff, and it might also be about reuniting with a friend from your childhood, but I feel like it could also be interpreted as trying to find someone to love.