"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.
Mercy like a gun when you’ve come undone
I’ve awoken in the hour that receives no one
The sound of a tribe will
Shake me out until sunrise
The heat of tomorrow released
As the wind blows
A beating stare from all the tribe
No sleep tonight
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Stripped of all the air in my lungs now
Flee from the walls so alone
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Raise me up in my throes
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Upon the burial lie thieves of their past
Firewater tenacious
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Between the living and the dead we move
Between the living and the dead we all move
Shift all placement, but they’re sifting you
Between the living and the dead we all move
The claim we stake a land within our wake
A garden in the bones
A headdress down in the soil we own
We build it on the bullshit or
Build it upon the burial
A garden in the bones
A headdress down in the soil we own, yeah
Stripped of all the air in my lungs now
Feeling so alone
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Feeling so low
Pull out all the ground from below
You’ve given quite a show
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Raise me up in my throes
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Upon the burial lie thieves of their past
Firewater tenacious
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Between the living and the dead we move
(We move)
Mercy like a gun
I’ve awoken in the hour that receives no one
The sound of a tribe will
Shake me out until sunrise
The heat of tomorrow released
As the wind blows
A beating stare from all the tribe
No sleep tonight
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Stripped of all the air in my lungs now
Flee from the walls so alone
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Raise me up in my throes
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Upon the burial lie thieves of their past
Firewater tenacious
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Between the living and the dead we move
Between the living and the dead we all move
Shift all placement, but they’re sifting you
Between the living and the dead we all move
The claim we stake a land within our wake
A garden in the bones
A headdress down in the soil we own
We build it on the bullshit or
Build it upon the burial
A garden in the bones
A headdress down in the soil we own, yeah
Stripped of all the air in my lungs now
Feeling so alone
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Feeling so low
Pull out all the ground from below
You’ve given quite a show
Stampede in the room like a buffalo
Raise me up in my throes
The howl from below
The wolf and the soaring crow
Am I losing control?
Am I losing all of control?
All spirit's entrance
I toss and turn in no romance
From six under the grass the
Prison breaks like glass
Upon the burial lie thieves of their past
Firewater tenacious
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Upon the burial ground
Between the living and the dead we move
(We move)
Mercy like a gun
Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow
Garden in the Bones Lyrics as written by Mark Holcomb Jake Bowen
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
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.
I think the song speaks of the struggles of Native American tribes & the mistreatment they've faced through our history. During the middle quiet section of the song, there's clearly a sort of "chanting" vocal in the background that sounds very Native American. I think this song is from the perspective of a descendant. Take the line "between the living & the dead we move" representing a kind of symbolic root in one's ancestral heritage, culturally moving or adapting historical events & traditions to contemporary uses. The "headdress down in the soil we own" & mentions of a burial ground could represent cultural claims to ancestral land & controversy over excavation of Native American lands and artifacts.