"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.
Not to catch you by surprise
Everything is fine but I want you here
In slow time
If you're not gonna cry then I'll do it for you
Here I go
Take a lap around the yard 'cause I need it
Did you notice what is broken back there
Did you notice
Hardly
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
I'll settle down
You're still around
We were friends back then and we will be now
No excuses
There's a line to cross and we haven't touched it
I don't love it but we're happy and we're better off
Right?
Right
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
Fall
There to catch you when you
Fall
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
This isn't the end of a horrible, tattered love
It just needs some patching up
A couple of wounded ducks separated from the pond
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
Everything is fine but I want you here
In slow time
If you're not gonna cry then I'll do it for you
Here I go
Take a lap around the yard 'cause I need it
Did you notice what is broken back there
Did you notice
Hardly
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
I'll settle down
You're still around
We were friends back then and we will be now
No excuses
There's a line to cross and we haven't touched it
I don't love it but we're happy and we're better off
Right?
Right
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
Fall
There to catch you when you
Fall
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
Not to catch you by surprise
But we're in it
This isn't the end of a horrible, tattered love
It just needs some patching up
A couple of wounded ducks separated from the pond
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me
A problem with anything
Two years is a pretty good feat considering everything
I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all
Not more than I was by default
Not more than a cinderbrick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you
Lyrics submitted by username-ben
not to catch you by surprise Lyrics as written by William Wemple
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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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"
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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Posting the correct lyrics in the comments since it won't let me edit the lyrics that it changed:
Not to catch you by surprise Everything is fine but I want you here In slow time If you're not gonna cry then I'll do it for you Here I go Take a lap around the yard 'cause I need it Did you notice what is broken back there? Did you notice? Hardly
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me A problem with anything Two years is a pretty good feat, considering everything I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all Not more than I was by default Not more than a cinder brick wall is there to catch you when you fall
I'll settle down You're still around We were friends back then, and we will be now No excuses There's a line to cross and we haven't touched it I don't love it but we're healthy and we're better off Right? Right
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me A problem with anything Two years is a pretty good feat, considering everything I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all Not more than I was by default Not more than a cinder brick wall is there to catch you when you fall
There to catch you when you Fall There to catch you when you Fall Not to catch you by surprise But we're in it Not to catch you by surprise But we're in it Not to catch you by surprise But we're in it
This isn't the end of a horrible, tattered love It just needs some patching up A couple of wounded ducks separated from the pond
There isn't a problem with you or a problem with me A problem with anything Two years is a pretty good feat, considering everything I don't need to tell you I wasn't there at all Not more than I was by default Not more than a cinder brick wall is there to catch you when you fall