"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.
I'm afraid of a sure thing of a change in the here
and now and the force when it hits me the full weight of it when I'm down
The fucking air in the city when the phase-shifting sign is off
if this ship is unsteady, how will that lifeboat hold us all
I aint gonna crawl-tell them all to forget it tell them that's
it then call it off cause I'm worried about money and paradigm stores running low
I ain't gonna crawl but I'll lie on the road
so how can I laugh how can I take it without some doubt
how can I laugh how can I face it right away with everything gone wrong
with everything all over anyway I need some grace
Say goodbye to aesthetic,
better taste and essential self 'cause I'm just tired of running
and there's a time bomb in this head
So just who's the real killer and what made his paint dry?
It's kind of hard to imagine Holidays in Neurotica
A slap in the faith, hard, opened hand is the one reality
I can never protect myself from, even in the sparkle yard at end
of day warm summer madness in the bouquet of a dream son,
astral projecting, failing to right wrongs when the whole thing starts to open up
I ain't gonna crawl without falling hard, without some pain
whenever the fog breaks and a day takes hold
I just can't think straight right away maybe I'll come around...
or not I'm swinging again and all my ex-friends say its psycho-pathetic
and way too gone, almost painless even though I wondered
if something was wrong all along.
and now and the force when it hits me the full weight of it when I'm down
The fucking air in the city when the phase-shifting sign is off
if this ship is unsteady, how will that lifeboat hold us all
I aint gonna crawl-tell them all to forget it tell them that's
it then call it off cause I'm worried about money and paradigm stores running low
I ain't gonna crawl but I'll lie on the road
so how can I laugh how can I take it without some doubt
how can I laugh how can I face it right away with everything gone wrong
with everything all over anyway I need some grace
Say goodbye to aesthetic,
better taste and essential self 'cause I'm just tired of running
and there's a time bomb in this head
So just who's the real killer and what made his paint dry?
It's kind of hard to imagine Holidays in Neurotica
A slap in the faith, hard, opened hand is the one reality
I can never protect myself from, even in the sparkle yard at end
of day warm summer madness in the bouquet of a dream son,
astral projecting, failing to right wrongs when the whole thing starts to open up
I ain't gonna crawl without falling hard, without some pain
whenever the fog breaks and a day takes hold
I just can't think straight right away maybe I'll come around...
or not I'm swinging again and all my ex-friends say its psycho-pathetic
and way too gone, almost painless even though I wondered
if something was wrong all along.
Lyrics submitted by zekey baby
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
No Surprises
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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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
It's about giving up on trying to find happiness.
'afraid of a sure thing, of a change in the here and now,' The storyteller doesn't want to be completely happy or sad, he doesn't want anything to change.
'And the force when it hits me, the full weight of it when I'm down' The force of realizing that he can't do anything to help himself. Feels even worse once he's given up.
'THE FUCKING AIR IN THE CITY,WHEN THE PHASE SHIFTING SIGN IS OFF!' I think this is a metaphor for his state of mind, how he hates when he isn't being neurotic.
'IF THE SHIP IS UNSTEADY, HOW WILL THE LIFE BOAT HOLD US ALL?' This one's kind of obvious, he's saying "if this state of mind is so bad how will I get better?"
'I ain't gonna crawl' I'm done struggling, 'I'll lie on the road' I'll stay in this bad state.
'tell them all to forget it, tell them that's it, then call it off, cause I'm worried about money, and paradigm stores running low' Tell them I'm done trying to get better, Because I'm almost out of money, And low on my shortcut to happiness(drugs?)
'so how can I laugh?' How can I feel good?
'how can I take it without some doubt' How can I do it without thinking of sadness ahead?
'how can I laugh?' How do I feel good?
'how can I face it right away' How can I be better immediately?
'with everything gone wrong with everything all over anyway' Everything's messed up, I'm done with dealing with everything.
'I need some grace' I need some excess(sex,drugs,partying)
'Say goodbye to aesthetic,' The excess stopped it's thing
'better taste and essential self' I have no more self worth
'cause I'm just tired of running' I'm done trying to be happy
'and there's a time bomb in this head' My mental state is deteriorating.
'So just who's the real killer?' Anti-hero suggests that even if he killed himself, it would be the rest of society's fault.
'And what made his paint dry' What part made me so certain about this?
'It's kind of hard to imagine holidays in neurotica' It's hard to be happy when everything's always changing
'A slap in the faith, hard, opened hand is the one reality I can never protect myself from,' The hero knows people will always insult him, and there's no way he can stop it.
'Even in the sparkle yard at end of day warm summer madness in the bouquet of a dream son, The hero is aware people will always dislike him, even when he's in a better place, and the future
'astral projecting, failing to right wrongs when the whole thing starts to open up' Whenever the hero, is at piece mentally, he fails to make amends to things he did when he was in the wrong state of mind
'I ain't gonna crawl, without falling hard, without some pain,' I'm not gonna get better without hardship, and sadness...
this part suggests drug abuse 'Whenever the fog breaks, and a day takes hold' Whenever I'm actually happy,
'I just can't think straight right away,' I get too euphoric
'Maybe I'll come around...' Maybe I'll still be happy when I come down,
'or not, I'm swinging again and all my ex-friends say it's psycho pathetic' not happy when I come down, and doing the same swing-set routine between happy and sad and my friends hide their true opinion(pathetic) with other comments.
'And way too gone' Saying I've gone to far...
'Almost painless even though, I wondered if something was wrong all along.' (obvious)
I love this song and am listening to it right now.