"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.
Barber
Get this mirror cleaned
I'm troubled by the face I see before me
As we shave our nations face
Keep a steady hand
Listen to these words that soon will ring across the land
Wield the Spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
There are many fools who dare propose imposing limits on my power
Those ungrateful who've been swayed by intellectuals in their ivory towers
They will pay for crimes that God and I will not allow
Some before the firing squad and some behind the plough
Wield the spade
Barber
Get this mirror cleaned
I'm troubled by the face I see before me
Be careful not to miss a whisker
Soon I face my people who adore me
As you shave our nations face
Keep a steady hand
Listen to these words that soon will ring across the land
Wield the spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
Barber
You've done very well
Much cleaner now
The mirror's telling no lies
I know I'm not imagining the telltale glint of death I see in your eyes
I can't trust you
So I must do something with my knife
It's a shame to lose a damn good barber
But that's life
Wield the spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
Get this mirror cleaned
I'm troubled by the face I see before me
As we shave our nations face
Keep a steady hand
Listen to these words that soon will ring across the land
Wield the Spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
There are many fools who dare propose imposing limits on my power
Those ungrateful who've been swayed by intellectuals in their ivory towers
They will pay for crimes that God and I will not allow
Some before the firing squad and some behind the plough
Wield the spade
Barber
Get this mirror cleaned
I'm troubled by the face I see before me
Be careful not to miss a whisker
Soon I face my people who adore me
As you shave our nations face
Keep a steady hand
Listen to these words that soon will ring across the land
Wield the spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
Barber
You've done very well
Much cleaner now
The mirror's telling no lies
I know I'm not imagining the telltale glint of death I see in your eyes
I can't trust you
So I must do something with my knife
It's a shame to lose a damn good barber
But that's life
Wield the spade
Ready the blade
Sacrifices must be made
Lyrics submitted by OiSterHedPhan
Wield the Spade Lyrics as written by Les Claypool Stewart Armstrong Copeland
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
RE: BugMeNot
As to "What is Trey saying?" -- "Babylonian Impaling", or a similar set of syllables in characteristic Trey ambiguous mumble which should evoke the same sense.
I think this song is meant to represent two different people, similar in that their both about to start a war, but, as indicated by the strong voice in the first and Les Claypool sounding snivelly in the second, the first was a general in the old days (WWI, WWII) and the secondwas someone like Bush, maybe Kennedy. I think then that the barber has witnessed both these mens plans, and the second decideds to kill him out of paranoia. Maybe the second is Hoover......
What the hell is Trey saying throughout this song? Anyway, I doubt this is about Kennedy, due to the fact that Les is such a liberal. That is a very unique perspective, with the different voices thing.
i dont think really it is anyone in particulary but senorreverte has the basic idea.
Actually I havn't really checked the lyrics, but from the chorus I think its a sort of silique from the perspective of a conservitive goverment official. They don't want to make a scene for the public, but they are addressing thier minions to take care of the problem without making a mess. They are also fearful about losing the numbers in their population poles. I think the spade is a simale in a way making the polition a gardner, picking out the renegade weeds who could dismantle all that the gardner has worked for. So yeah, a song in the perspective of a conservitive leader who is fearful of over informed revolutionaries.
I just saw them at bonnaroo and they didn't play this song which was a huge disapointment.
this song is about ceaucescou, a romanian dictator during one of modern romania's worst times as a country; it involved a large loss of crops and agriculture overall due to some of the dictator's choices, etc. wielding the spade, using it as a weapon, shaving the nation's face, literally, meaning trim the plants, and hurry to make romania's image better.
idk if juavez is right, but it sounds reasonable. its just hard to believe that a supergroup would form and write a song about... that. i think its not about a spcific person just like a dictator of sorts preparing a nation for war, and obviously killing off everyone who wasnt perfect, or seemed suspicious similar to a soviet union scenario.
I always thought that this was about government attempts at censoring the internet. The mirror being the internet user reflecting the injustices of the government elite. The Barber being martial law which will eliminate all who oppose. And the elite, in turn, kill the Barber(who become too powerful for the Elite to control) to cover their tracks.
This is about NWO. The president is part of it and isn't going to let people put limits on him. The sacrifices that must be made is the American way of life. Ready the blade to kill, wield the spade to bury people. The barber is symbolic too, he represents the people of the country. The barber had a blade to the presidents throat but didn't do anything about the man who is obviously drunk with power and paranoid and eventually is killed by that man. This song is chilling, especially the presidential voice.