"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.
On your third broken window,
Your hair full of glass,
Throw your clothes in the hallway,
Just a sheet on your back.
So you're super-connected now?
All the freaks gather around,
And the crowd in your bedroom waits
For a piece of your personal space.
Are there heart strings connected
To the wings you've got slapped on your back?
Better climb in the window cause I'm closing the door.
On your third broken window,
With your hair full of glass,
Saw your clothes in the hallway,
Just a curtain on your back.
I laugh.
Are there heart strings connected
To the wings you've got slapped on your back?
Better climb in the window cause I'm closing the door.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Like you claim to do,
Like now, like now.
Are there heart strings connected
To the poison coming out of your mouth?
Are you super-connected?
Are you super-connected now?
I'm spinning on a dime.
Throw your clothes in the hallway,
And I'm closing the door.
Your hair full of glass,
Throw your clothes in the hallway,
Just a sheet on your back.
So you're super-connected now?
All the freaks gather around,
And the crowd in your bedroom waits
For a piece of your personal space.
Are there heart strings connected
To the wings you've got slapped on your back?
Better climb in the window cause I'm closing the door.
On your third broken window,
With your hair full of glass,
Saw your clothes in the hallway,
Just a curtain on your back.
I laugh.
Are there heart strings connected
To the wings you've got slapped on your back?
Better climb in the window cause I'm closing the door.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Now I'm spinning on a dime.
Like you claim to do,
Like now, like now.
Are there heart strings connected
To the poison coming out of your mouth?
Are you super-connected?
Are you super-connected now?
I'm spinning on a dime.
Throw your clothes in the hallway,
And I'm closing the door.
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
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“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.
I think the song is about the price of fame and the self-destructive desire to achieve it.
The "wings you've got slapped on your back" are symbolic of a rapid rise to fame, and the fact that they are "slapped on" means that they are newly acquired and not natural. The operating room in the video supports the notion that the wings were acquired unnaturally.
The "freaks gathering around" is a reference to paparazzi.
Being "super-connected" would mean being part of the "in" crowd.
The "poison coming out of your mouth" could be a reference to corporate music, or insincere work - whatever it takes to keep star status.
The "broken windows and hair full of glass" seem to describe a car crash. This might be a reference to the self-destructive behavior that often accompanies stardom.
I'm not sure what the "spinning on a dime" line could mean in this context.
The narrator in the story asks if "there are heart strings connected to the wings and the poison coming out of your mouth." The narrator is asking if the person is really so attached to their fame. The line "I laugh" indicates the narrator's disapproval. "Closing the door" could indicate that the narrator has had enough and is going to leave the relationship.
@ragnar704 I wonder if "spinning on a dime" refers to some sort of rapid change. Great analysis, btw!
@ragnar704 I feel like the reference to broken windows might be vandalism, casual destruction that leaves it's mark on the person committing it, the hair full of glass. The interesting think about having hair full of glass is that even while dangerous for both the person and people around them, it will make the person sparkle even more for the hangers-on and paparazzi.
I always thought this was about Tanya's relationship with her sister Kirstin Hersh and Kirstin's struggles with mental illness. The lyrics remind me of Delicate Cutters by Throwing Muses which is about the same thing from Kirstin's perspective (Throwing Muses was created by Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly btw)
Possibly my favourite Belly song. It's about stupid rock stars being idolised and wasting the opportunity to say something decent and worthwhile, choosing to spout bullshit instead. Most likely directed at Courtney Love.
Seems to me that the song is about the voyeuristic nature of webcams and sex over the Internet. The song was released in 1995 when that trend was new. Super-connected to the freaks in your bedroom. Pretty much says it all to me.