"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.
Tell me, who doesn't love?
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
The illusion is deep
It's as deep as the night
I can tell by your tears, you remember it all
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
How it feels to be dry
Walking bare in the sun
Every mirage I see is a mirage of you
As I cool in the twilight
Taste the salt on my skin
I recall all the tears, all the broken words
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
When the sunset's glow drifts away from you
You'll no longer know
If any of this was really true at all
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
Tell me, who doesn't love?
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
The illusion is deep
It's as deep as the night
I can tell by your tears, you remember it all
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
How it feels to be dry
Walking bare in the sun
Every mirage I see is a mirage of you
As I cool in the twilight
Taste the salt on my skin
I recall all the tears, all the broken words
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
When the sunset's glow drifts away from you
You'll no longer know
If any of this was really true at all
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
Tell me, who doesn't love?
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop, never stop
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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"
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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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,
This might be a good example of why artists shouldn’t answer questions about what a song, or line, is about. They often explain the inspiration for the song, but rarely ramble on about what the song means. Sure, “the blood of Christ” line was inspired by a drink called “The Tears of Christ”. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the lyrics are just the random, meaningless thoughts of Robert Smith when he was drunk. It belittles the lyrics to claim that.
I can’t fit everything together, but there is a lot of interesting stuff here. Obviously, the chorus can be taken in a religious sense. A Christian realizes that he has been blinded by his own religion, but knows that he can’t give it up. On the same note, the verse including “walking bear in the sun” seems reminiscent of Christ spending forty days and nights in the desert and being tempted by Satan.
Can you really attribute the first verse to simply drinking wine? It is really great stuff. This verse could be about how we look at distant relationships through rose-colored glasses. Like how a child of divorced parents will “hate” the custodial parent, but think that the distant parent is great, even though they never see them. In this case, there was apparently a break-up, but he still has the illusion that everything was great. He is blinded to the truth but can’t help it. However he later “recalls all the tears” and “broken words”. This brings into question the narrator’s very concept of reality: “You'll no longer know if any of this was really true at all...”
These are just my ideas. Songs like this are great because they are so open to personal interpretation by the listener. I wish there was more of that on this website.
@clovus It is true that Smith was raised Christian (Catholic, no less) and then figured out at some point that it was all completely ridiculous. As for the cheap Portuguese wine...I have got to try this stuff!<br /> <br /> (Random note: it's "Walking bare in the sun." I think most bears, although diurnal, prefer wooded areas where sunlight isn't a major feature. Well, except polar bears. :) )