"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.
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
I don't know why I'm calling you tonight
Guess it's just better than tracing lies
From California to Cicero Coast
Hoping, my dear, I'll meet your ghost
Shredding a mattress, divide by a script
You convinced yourself I'll soon forget but
What am I without cording regrets
You judge your worth by the weight of your baggage
Well Jersey wasn't far enough
It wasn't far enough
You ran like the devil to get away from us
So darling, are you high enough?
Are you high enough, are you high enough?
To look down on me and think that you're in heaven
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
I don't know why I'm calling you tonight
Guess it's just better than bleeding lights
Bright enough to burn this distance
Hoping, my dear, oh, this time you'll listen
Do you like waking up with San Euro drinks
Then kissing strangers that taste like me
Bottom this ocean swallows the stars
Engulfing on every wish you lead is gone
Well Jersey wasn't far enough
It wasn't far enough
You ran like the devil to get away from us
So darling, are you high enough?
Are you high enough, are you high enough?
To look down on me and think that you're in heaven
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
So darling, don't leave me all on my own
The miles mean nothing we're closer than ever before
Too much just happened for me to come home
Would you welcome me Jersey if I wound up cold at your door?
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
So darling, don't leave me all on my own
The miles mean nothing, we're closer than ever before
Too much just happened for me to come home
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
I don't know why I'm calling you tonight
Guess it's just better than tracing lies
From California to Cicero Coast
Hoping, my dear, I'll meet your ghost
Shredding a mattress, divide by a script
You convinced yourself I'll soon forget but
What am I without cording regrets
You judge your worth by the weight of your baggage
Well Jersey wasn't far enough
It wasn't far enough
You ran like the devil to get away from us
So darling, are you high enough?
Are you high enough, are you high enough?
To look down on me and think that you're in heaven
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
I don't know why I'm calling you tonight
Guess it's just better than bleeding lights
Bright enough to burn this distance
Hoping, my dear, oh, this time you'll listen
Do you like waking up with San Euro drinks
Then kissing strangers that taste like me
Bottom this ocean swallows the stars
Engulfing on every wish you lead is gone
Well Jersey wasn't far enough
It wasn't far enough
You ran like the devil to get away from us
So darling, are you high enough?
Are you high enough, are you high enough?
To look down on me and think that you're in heaven
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
So darling, don't leave me all on my own
The miles mean nothing we're closer than ever before
Too much just happened for me to come home
Would you welcome me Jersey if I wound up cold at your door?
There's pieces of us along every street
I watch from her pictures, I watch from her pictures
She hides in the closet and sings me to sleep
I'll always be with her, she'll always be just out of reach
So darling, don't leave me all on my own
The miles mean nothing, we're closer than ever before
Too much just happened for me to come home
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
Would you welcome me Jersey, if I wound up cold at your door?
Lyrics submitted by jackbatman
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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
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Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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