"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.
In the life we live as thugs,
Everbody fuckin wit us so can't you see
It's hard to be a man.
Ridin wit my gun in hand.
Why explain the game? Niggas ain't listenin.
Stuck in positions. If victims can't stand the heat,
Then stay the fuck out the kitchen.
Have these bustas switchin, lookin at me mean.
Itchin, givin suckas plenty space.
Have these bitch niggas snitchin.
Where are we now? Guns found daily.
The feds surely hope that they could finally nail me for sellin dope.
They backwards, make tracks burst whenever I rap.
Attack. Words bein known to explode on contact.
Extreme at times. Blinded by my passion and fury.
Look at me laugh at my competition's flashin my jewelry.
You'd stay silent if you niggas knew me. Truely effective.
The shit you heard ain't do me justice. Got a death wish, bitch.
Run up, face me and trace wit an infared beam.
It seems niggas ain't recognize my team.
Ain't nobody holdin you back. Explode the track to confetti.
Unload it. Cuz niggas ain't ready. The life of an outlaw.
Chorus repeats
Code 3. Attack formation. Pull out your pistols.
Keep an eye out for the devils cuz they itchin to get you.
Mercy to this madman screamin kamikaze in tongue.
Automatic gunfire makin all my enemies run.
Who should I call when I'm shot and bleedin.
Indeed the possibility has part a chase in cream.
Dope got me hatin fiends. Scheam wit my team, just a chosen few.
My foes victim of explosives. Come closer. Exhale the fumes.
We got memories fadin fast. A slave for cash.
Accelerate, mash, blast, then dash.
Don't look now. How you like it, raw.
Niggas ain't ready for the wrath of the outlaws. Never surrender.
Death is for a son to stay free. I'm thugged out.
Fuck the world cuz this is how they made me.
Scarred but still breathin.
Believe in me and you could see the victory.
A warrior with jewels. Can you picture me?
Life of and outlaw.
Chorus repeats
City under siege. It's like I can't even breathe.
I'm from the state of car theives. G, deep from the street.
Plenty beef. I play for keeps, arrange the whole crime scene.
Mobb Deep. This nigga from behind tryin to creep.
No halfs wit no straps, jack.
It's on to bounce back.
And an ounce so fat, they snatch my style ???
Get this grip wit hollows to get cha.
Snip wit clippers. Get the picture?
I wrote my life down like a scripture.
And I'm still on lost in the land of the lonely.
Where ain't nobody holy. A matter of a fact, we unholy.
Everybody livin soley for themselves. Too ?? on a land hell.
Somebody need me. You know we lost hope and we needin it.
Wit the evil it's forever. But it might be low down, scandalouz
Like a tramp is. All for the street fame on how to be managed.
To plan shit. 6 months in advaced to what we plotted.
Approved to go on swole and now I got it.
Un uh, crack my window. Knowin they'd love to catch Kastro sleepin.
Attach a strap under my pillow and a hand like we freakin.
Creepin deep into morning. Peepin out the weak.
While they yawnin and let my cloud speak for it's self.
No doubt. Outlaw. Outta my mind, outta time. You're all blind.
Some kind of life of mine Kato don't mind.
Findin it funny, matter of fact, cuz it is.
Perhaps finally I look at that true over the years as an outlaw.
Eh, Noble.
What's up nigga.
Would you die for me, nigga?
Hell yeah.
Would you kill for me?
On my grandmother, nigga.
Ah yo.
What's up.
Let's ride on them stupid bitches right now.
Watch out.
Well now they all say they roaches and parasites.
Snakes and all they might
Thug Life break night.
Drink till we fist fight.
Life or death. But you can't win with a vest.
But there won't be no breathing for the reason
Punk bitch on your breath.
I see day is dark and I admit it's dark.
So chase ??????
Beware foolin marks.
And yo, Makaveli, give me them bullets that was left for PO's belly.
And let me bust back to them niggas till they all sweaty.
Everbody fuckin wit us so can't you see
It's hard to be a man.
Ridin wit my gun in hand.
Why explain the game? Niggas ain't listenin.
Stuck in positions. If victims can't stand the heat,
Then stay the fuck out the kitchen.
Have these bustas switchin, lookin at me mean.
Itchin, givin suckas plenty space.
Have these bitch niggas snitchin.
Where are we now? Guns found daily.
The feds surely hope that they could finally nail me for sellin dope.
They backwards, make tracks burst whenever I rap.
Attack. Words bein known to explode on contact.
Extreme at times. Blinded by my passion and fury.
Look at me laugh at my competition's flashin my jewelry.
You'd stay silent if you niggas knew me. Truely effective.
The shit you heard ain't do me justice. Got a death wish, bitch.
Run up, face me and trace wit an infared beam.
It seems niggas ain't recognize my team.
Ain't nobody holdin you back. Explode the track to confetti.
Unload it. Cuz niggas ain't ready. The life of an outlaw.
Chorus repeats
Code 3. Attack formation. Pull out your pistols.
Keep an eye out for the devils cuz they itchin to get you.
Mercy to this madman screamin kamikaze in tongue.
Automatic gunfire makin all my enemies run.
Who should I call when I'm shot and bleedin.
Indeed the possibility has part a chase in cream.
Dope got me hatin fiends. Scheam wit my team, just a chosen few.
My foes victim of explosives. Come closer. Exhale the fumes.
We got memories fadin fast. A slave for cash.
Accelerate, mash, blast, then dash.
Don't look now. How you like it, raw.
Niggas ain't ready for the wrath of the outlaws. Never surrender.
Death is for a son to stay free. I'm thugged out.
Fuck the world cuz this is how they made me.
Scarred but still breathin.
Believe in me and you could see the victory.
A warrior with jewels. Can you picture me?
Life of and outlaw.
Chorus repeats
City under siege. It's like I can't even breathe.
I'm from the state of car theives. G, deep from the street.
Plenty beef. I play for keeps, arrange the whole crime scene.
Mobb Deep. This nigga from behind tryin to creep.
No halfs wit no straps, jack.
It's on to bounce back.
And an ounce so fat, they snatch my style ???
Get this grip wit hollows to get cha.
Snip wit clippers. Get the picture?
I wrote my life down like a scripture.
And I'm still on lost in the land of the lonely.
Where ain't nobody holy. A matter of a fact, we unholy.
Everybody livin soley for themselves. Too ?? on a land hell.
Somebody need me. You know we lost hope and we needin it.
Wit the evil it's forever. But it might be low down, scandalouz
Like a tramp is. All for the street fame on how to be managed.
To plan shit. 6 months in advaced to what we plotted.
Approved to go on swole and now I got it.
Un uh, crack my window. Knowin they'd love to catch Kastro sleepin.
Attach a strap under my pillow and a hand like we freakin.
Creepin deep into morning. Peepin out the weak.
While they yawnin and let my cloud speak for it's self.
No doubt. Outlaw. Outta my mind, outta time. You're all blind.
Some kind of life of mine Kato don't mind.
Findin it funny, matter of fact, cuz it is.
Perhaps finally I look at that true over the years as an outlaw.
Eh, Noble.
What's up nigga.
Would you die for me, nigga?
Hell yeah.
Would you kill for me?
On my grandmother, nigga.
Ah yo.
What's up.
Let's ride on them stupid bitches right now.
Watch out.
Well now they all say they roaches and parasites.
Snakes and all they might
Thug Life break night.
Drink till we fist fight.
Life or death. But you can't win with a vest.
But there won't be no breathing for the reason
Punk bitch on your breath.
I see day is dark and I admit it's dark.
So chase ??????
Beware foolin marks.
And yo, Makaveli, give me them bullets that was left for PO's belly.
And let me bust back to them niggas till they all sweaty.
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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"
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
When We Were Young
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if victims cant stand the heat then stay the fuck out the kitchen!!! i can relate to that... great song.. yall need to soak shit like this song up cuz u still aint got nobody in rap that can touch pac.. sure nice cars, bitches, grills, spinners, bling bling, and all that stupid bullshit that rappers r talkin about these days is no doubt all good shit, but there is real topics 2 talk about... but no-1 cared like pac did.. rap died with this man