"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.
Loud mouth, suits and ties
Liars, with money and girls
The kind you fit in your pocket
I can't save them from this darkness
My sisters, I love them all
My faeries pinned against the wall
I know what you want
And I know what you want
And I know
Doll, made of paint and china
Your worth lies only in these
But you're real to me
Little bones, will you break these legs like twigs now?
There's pain here you'll never have to feel
Never have to feel
I know what you want
And I know what you want
And I know
And I would fight a thousand men
I'd fight fire and wind and rain
I'd cry a river of tears for them
The bodies floating there
Christ-like and bare
Tell me, is that fair?
There are some things I can't forgive
Some things I just can't forgive
Some things
Jesus, I thought we had an understanding
The fact that you can buy a woman
Makes me want to die
Where were you last night?
Jesus, Jesus
Where were you?
And I know what you want
I know it all too well
And I know
I know
Liars, with money and girls
The kind you fit in your pocket
I can't save them from this darkness
My sisters, I love them all
My faeries pinned against the wall
I know what you want
And I know what you want
And I know
Doll, made of paint and china
Your worth lies only in these
But you're real to me
Little bones, will you break these legs like twigs now?
There's pain here you'll never have to feel
Never have to feel
I know what you want
And I know what you want
And I know
And I would fight a thousand men
I'd fight fire and wind and rain
I'd cry a river of tears for them
The bodies floating there
Christ-like and bare
Tell me, is that fair?
There are some things I can't forgive
Some things I just can't forgive
Some things
Jesus, I thought we had an understanding
The fact that you can buy a woman
Makes me want to die
Where were you last night?
Jesus, Jesus
Where were you?
And I know what you want
I know it all too well
And I know
I know
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Here are some quotes I took off of littleslean.com(before it disappeared) by Sarah on her song:
With “I Know” it was just the sort of thing where you read the paper and you read about how many men are hurting other women, and I mean women are very violent too, and I know women are criminals too, but you hear about how violent things can get in a society and how sexually violent they can get. I remember a time when I went to three movies in one week and each one had a rape scene in it and I was like why do people want to see this? Why are we attracted to this sort of hideous violence?
The line in this song “Where were you last night” is like, where does that come in to having hope when you see all this sort of stuff around you and you read details of it in the paper. How can you have hope when you see stuff like that? How can you trust other people? How can you begin to have a relationship with a man if you see this around you all the time? It’s like, “I know what you want” Sometimes you start to feel like that.
It sends chills down my spine. It speaks of the way women are still viewed as second class citizens in this country. That nothing will change until we realize that women are not property, they aren't objects to be bought and sold.
A beautiful song.
This is one of the saddest songs i've heard. Sarah's currently my favorite singer/songwriter. This song just makes you realize that politics/wars/disputes are all minor problems and it's everything taken as a whole. i don't really think there was any "religious" mentions in the song....she refer's to Jesus...but i don't think it had any "religious" connotation to it.
This song is very depressing but one of my favorite songs all time especially the piano and violin accompaning the sad vocals. In my mind this song is about prositution and how all these girls starve themselves and paint themselves up so that they can be boughten and how much anger she "Sarah" has against this whole act and the men who would buy a woman just for a sinful sex act. I think the references to Jesus make the song even more so intense. It's said that Jesus has saved us from Sins but yet there are many ppl still suffering from sins on this earth and she "Sarah" wonders where Jesus is if he has saved us then why is there still so much hurting going on and so many girls being used. Beautiful and breathtaking this song is.
The religious freaks are ridiculous. If anything the Jesus references are blasphemous. She is calling Jesus out. "Jesus, I thought we had an understanding" "Where were you last night, Jesus? Jesus, where were you?" She is obvisously calling him out. If God is so great than how can he allow such things to happen?
I don't believe that there is much religious connotation either. " Bodies floating Christ like and bare", I think just describes the way that they were arranged, floating in the water as if they WERE on a cross. Asking where Jesus is i believe is just her way of stating that the world has gone to shit.
She cries for the sinners but she can't forgive them. Jesus died for them and her sisters are dying. This is such a beautiful song but all the religious mentions just ruin it for me a little.
I don't think it's religious in the least. I think she's being ironic. Jesus... where were you last night. How can you exist while this is happening? It's clearly about the degradation of women and people who have to sell themselves. Not necessarily prostitutes, but any situation where one has to "sell" themselves to get what they want/need.