"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.
Does he kiss your eyelids in the morning when you start to raise your head?
And does he sing to you incessantly from the space between your bed and wall?
Does he walk around all day at school with his feet inside your shoes?
Looking down every few steps to pretend he walks with you
Oh, does he know that place below your neck that is your favorite to be touched?
And does he cry through broken sentences like I love you far too much?
Does he lay awake listening to your breath?
Worried that you smoke too many cigarettes
Is he coughing now on a bathroom floor?
For every speck of tile there's a thousand more
That you won't ever see but most hold inside yourself eternally.
Well, I drug your ghost across the country and we plotted out my death
In every city, memories would whisper, "Here is where you rest"
I was determined in Chicago but I dug my teeth into my knees
And I settled for a telephone and sang into your machine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
And I kissed a girl with a broken jaw that her father gave to her
She had eyes bright enough to burn me, they reminded me of yours
And in a story told she was a little girl in a red-rouge sun-bruised field
And there were rows of ripe tomatoes where a secret was concealed
And it rose like thunder, clapped under our hands
And it stretched for centuries to a diary entry's end where I wrote
"You make me happy" (whoa) oh, when the skies are gray
"You make me happy" (whoa) The skies are gray and gray and gray
Well the clock's heart it hangs inside its open chest with its hands
Stretched towards the calendar hanging itself
But I will not weep for those dying days
For all the ones who have left there are a few that stayed
And they found me here and pulled me from the grass where I was laid
And does he sing to you incessantly from the space between your bed and wall?
Does he walk around all day at school with his feet inside your shoes?
Looking down every few steps to pretend he walks with you
Oh, does he know that place below your neck that is your favorite to be touched?
And does he cry through broken sentences like I love you far too much?
Does he lay awake listening to your breath?
Worried that you smoke too many cigarettes
Is he coughing now on a bathroom floor?
For every speck of tile there's a thousand more
That you won't ever see but most hold inside yourself eternally.
Well, I drug your ghost across the country and we plotted out my death
In every city, memories would whisper, "Here is where you rest"
I was determined in Chicago but I dug my teeth into my knees
And I settled for a telephone and sang into your machine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
And I kissed a girl with a broken jaw that her father gave to her
She had eyes bright enough to burn me, they reminded me of yours
And in a story told she was a little girl in a red-rouge sun-bruised field
And there were rows of ripe tomatoes where a secret was concealed
And it rose like thunder, clapped under our hands
And it stretched for centuries to a diary entry's end where I wrote
"You make me happy" (whoa) oh, when the skies are gray
"You make me happy" (whoa) The skies are gray and gray and gray
Well the clock's heart it hangs inside its open chest with its hands
Stretched towards the calendar hanging itself
But I will not weep for those dying days
For all the ones who have left there are a few that stayed
And they found me here and pulled me from the grass where I was laid
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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.
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,
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I agree with the last comment, it is about moving on - in the beginning he is mad with jealousy of his lost love's new boyfriend and he doesn't believe that he knows her as well as he used to. As he realizes that he can never win her back, he becomes suicidal and travels across the country with her ghost (= the memory of her), re-experiencing memories on the way. The use of "drug" instead of "dragged" could mean that he uses drugs and then her ghost grows stronger ("WE plotted out my death", i.e. drug addict Conor and the ghost). Then he has second thoughts and digs his teeth into his knees (yes, I think that's litterally) and calls the lost love. Later on he tries to forget the girl by being with another girl, an abused girl ("a broken jaw that her father gave to her"). I have no idea about the meaning of the tomato thing, but since the secret concealed in the tomato field (which could be something that happened there, it doesn't have to be a buried thing) only stretched to the diary entry's end - maybe Conor reveals it in this entry?
Someone said the "calendar" and "clock" are in fact people killing themselves. Don't think so. I think the meaning of that verse is just that the time (i.e. calendar/clock) when he was with her is slipping further and further away (= dying, the calendar of that time is hanging itself). But in the end he decides that he can't be trapped in the past ("But I will not weep for those dying days") and he realizes there are other people in the world than that girl, and they help him to recover from his heartache. So, as much as it is a song about missing someone, it is a song about moving on and appreciating what you have left.
just one of those songs that make you go..."yeah..that's exactly what i wanna say" .....man i gotta stop posting tonight..haha
Does he know that place below your neck that is your favorite to be touched and does he cry through broken sentences like I love you far too much?...I love that line...it's so beautiful just as every Bright Eyes song is. Connor is simply a lyrical genius.
yes he is!
My god thats a terrible idea... Slow down this powerhouse of anger and tension and exploding long-bottled emotion? And Bright Eyes' best uptempo song at that? Well, while I suppose it would be interesting to hear Calendar in an alternate, slower version, I cant envision that pacified (castrated?) version ever surpassing this barreling, shambling, glorious wreck of a song ever. Ever.
I agree very much, it just wouldn't work, conor's music is about his pain, his frustration. they are packed with emotion, slowing it down would, it would, ruin it, completely. The emotions would be false. This song is perfect as it is.
Now this is a really good song.
this is my favorite song on "fevers and mirrors." gives me goosebumps.
bright eyes kicks ass
hmm i think the beginning of this song is about him asking his ex if her new boyfirend does all the things he did when they were dating. kind of like hes saying "is he really as good of a boyfriend as i was?" but i dont really understand the rest of the song. the part where he talks about her ghost is most likely about how he cant get her off his mind and everything reminds him of her. like her 'ghost' follows him. i just dont see how the rest of the song has anything to do with that though. like the part about the clock and the calendar? i dont understand that at all<p><b><i>Edited by mellow_harsher on July 25 2006, at 03:56AM</i></b></p>
Kay, my two cents:
First, the premise is that the narrator's in love with a girl who has someone else (whether it's an ex or not isn't very relevant XD)
"Does he kiss your eyelids in the morning When you start to raise your head? And does he sing to you incessantly From the space between your bed and wall? Does he walk around all day at school With his feet inside your shoes? Looking down every few steps To pretend he walks with you Oh, does he know that place below your neck That's your favorite to be touched And does he cry through broken sentences Like, "I love you far too much"? Does he lay awake listening to your breath Worried that you smoke too many cigarettes?"
Basically, he's saying "Can he treat you like I can? Like you should be treated?"
"Is he coughing now on a bathroom floor? For every speck of tile there's a thousand more You won’t ever see but must hold inside yourself eternally"
I think this is him trying to kill himself. Basically, bathrooms are a pretty common place for suicide XD And the "for every speck of tile there's a thousand more" might be some sort of reference to how he feels like he can't get out. Basically he's saying that the tiles are so incredibly expansive he can't possibly find his way out.
"Well, I drug your ghost across the country And we plotted out my death In every city, memories would whisper "Here is where you rest" I was determined in Chicago But I dug my teeth into my knees And I settled for a telephone Sang into your machine: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You are my sunshine, my only sunshine" "
I think this is him leaving, and trying again to kill himself. And in Chicago, he finally decided he was going to do it, but instead he just decided to talk to her to settle his grief.
"And I kissed a girl with a broken jaw That her father gave to her She had eyes bright enough to burn me They reminded me of yours"
This one I think is saying he met a girl who was in misery of some sort (probably abuse), and he felt bad for her, but she reminded him of the girl he's writing to (She could maybe have a similar situation)
"In a story told she was a little girl In a red-rouge, sun-bruised field And there were rows of ripe tomatoes Where a secret was concealed And it rose like thunder, clapped under our hands. And it stretched for centuries to a diary entry’s end Where I wrote: You make me happy (Right) When skies are gray You make me happy (Right) Oh, when skies are gray and gray and gray"
This part, I can only think that perhaps he's saying that even though he's so mind-numbingly depressed (and suicidal) because he can't have her, she's still the only one that can lift his spirits, despite the fact that it's because of her he feels this way.
"Well the clock’s heart it hangs inside it's open chest With it's hands stretched towards the calendar hanging itself But I will not weep for those dying days For all the ones who left, there's a few that stayed And they found me here and pulled me from the grass Where I was laid"
And this part I think he's saying that basically, time is passing, and he's not even one step closer to having her for his own, but because there's still time, he has hope to garner her affection for himself one day, and this idea is what gets him back on his feet.
ive just realised why i love this song so much. too much. love it because you can undeniably relate to it. i feel sick. but thanks, youve helped me.
I agree with the last comment, it is about moving on - in the beginning he is mad with jealousy of his lost love's new boyfriend and he doesn't believe that he knows her as well as he used to. As he realizes that he can never win her back, he becomes suicidal and travels across the country with her ghost (= the memory of her), re-experiencing memories on the way. The use of "drug" instead of "dragged" could mean that he uses drugs and then her ghost grows stronger ("WE plotted out my death", i.e. drug addict Conor and the ghost). Then he has second thoughts and digs his teeth into his knees (yes, I think that's litterally) and calls the lost love. Later on he tries to forget the girl by being with another girl, an abused girl ("a broken jaw that her father gave to her"). I have no idea about the meaning of the tomato thing, but since the secret concealed in the tomato field (which could be something that happened there, it doesn't have to be a buried thing) only stretched to the diary entry's end - maybe Conor reveals it in this entry?
Someone said the "calendar" and "clock" are in fact people killing themselves. Don't think so. I think the meaning of that verse is just that the time (i.e. calendar/clock) when he was with her is slipping further and further away (= dying, the calendar of that time is hanging itself). But in the end he decides that he can't be trapped in the past ("But I will not weep for those dying days") and he realizes there are other people in the world than that girl, and they help him to recover from his heartache. So, as much as it is a song about missing someone, it is a song about moving on and appreciating what you have left.