"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.
It started back in high school
So cool, king of the scene
You found that making people laugh
Was more than just a dream
The public took right to you
Like flies to a pile of shit
So funny and smart, so talented
But success just couldn't fit
Wasting your life no future bright
Dancing on your grave
Living like a slave, someone should've said
Nfl, efilnikufesin nfl
Nfl, efilnikufesin nfl
Wake up dead in a plywood bed
Six feet from the rest of your life
And when you couldn't see your own dependency
Nfl, nice fuckin' life
The whole world is your playground
Yet you can't find your niche
Your only friends, it helps you through
Helps you dig your daily ditch
The bottom line can't touch you
Cause you're above the rest
But your little friend's the enemy
And the bottom line is death
You lived a life of excess
Goddamn shame it's such a waste
Just one too many cookies
From the batch no one should taste
Yet his memory stills stays with us
Cause watching him was fun
Too bad things weren't different
Who knows what he'd have done
So cool, king of the scene
You found that making people laugh
Was more than just a dream
The public took right to you
Like flies to a pile of shit
So funny and smart, so talented
But success just couldn't fit
Wasting your life no future bright
Dancing on your grave
Living like a slave, someone should've said
Nfl, efilnikufesin nfl
Nfl, efilnikufesin nfl
Wake up dead in a plywood bed
Six feet from the rest of your life
And when you couldn't see your own dependency
Nfl, nice fuckin' life
The whole world is your playground
Yet you can't find your niche
Your only friends, it helps you through
Helps you dig your daily ditch
The bottom line can't touch you
Cause you're above the rest
But your little friend's the enemy
And the bottom line is death
You lived a life of excess
Goddamn shame it's such a waste
Just one too many cookies
From the batch no one should taste
Yet his memory stills stays with us
Cause watching him was fun
Too bad things weren't different
Who knows what he'd have done
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Wu-Tang Clan
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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.
Blue
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Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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Seems like he's describing Animal House at the beginning.