"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.
And now I wait my whole lifetime for you
And now I wait my whole lifetime for you
I ride the dirt, I ride the tide for you
I search the outside, search inside for you
To take back what you left me
I know I'll always burn to be
The one who seeks so I may find
And now I wait my whole lifetime
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
And I'm torn
So on I wait my whole lifetime for you
So on I wait my whole lifetime for you
The more I search, the more my need for you
The more I bless, the more I bleed for you
You make me smash the clock and feel
I'd rather die behind the wheel
Time was never on my side
So on I wait my whole lifetime
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
And I'm torn
Hear me
And if I close my mind in fear
Please pry it open
See me
And if my face becomes sincere
Beware
Hold me
And when I start to come undone
Stitch me together
Save me
And when you see me strut
Remind me of what left this outlaw torn
Hear me
And if I close my mind in fear
Please pry it open
See me
And if my face becomes sincere
Beware
Hold me
And when I start to come undone
Stitch me together
Save me
And when you see me strut
Remind me of what left this outlaw torn
And now I wait my whole lifetime for you
I ride the dirt, I ride the tide for you
I search the outside, search inside for you
To take back what you left me
I know I'll always burn to be
The one who seeks so I may find
And now I wait my whole lifetime
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
And I'm torn
So on I wait my whole lifetime for you
So on I wait my whole lifetime for you
The more I search, the more my need for you
The more I bless, the more I bleed for you
You make me smash the clock and feel
I'd rather die behind the wheel
Time was never on my side
So on I wait my whole lifetime
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
Outlaw of torn
And I'm torn
Hear me
And if I close my mind in fear
Please pry it open
See me
And if my face becomes sincere
Beware
Hold me
And when I start to come undone
Stitch me together
Save me
And when you see me strut
Remind me of what left this outlaw torn
Hear me
And if I close my mind in fear
Please pry it open
See me
And if my face becomes sincere
Beware
Hold me
And when I start to come undone
Stitch me together
Save me
And when you see me strut
Remind me of what left this outlaw torn
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
I think it may be about James' mother. He wrote Mama Said as a personal song which he was persuaded to put on the album. I think this one might be his 'album track' about his mother. In Mama Said he talks about needing her to love him and comfort him and now never being able to have that. I think the outlaw moniker here suggests the recklessness that drove him away from his mother and then the searching is his endless search for her love. If you have the S&M dvd, at "the more I bless", James folds his hands in prayer. I think he is symbolizing the idea that the closer he gets to a spiritual life, the more he is reminded of his mother's spirituality (which he believed had failed her - The God That Failed).
I struggled a long time with the "smash the clock" line, but now I think I have it. It means he is angry at time for continuing on past this death and then the "i'd rather die behind the wheel" bit means he would rather have lived through that time with the person who died (his mother) than escaped it (by running off with the band). Sort of saying he would have rather struggled through rough years against his mother, secretly knowing her love than to have been free of the pain so early and never get that part of the relationship.