"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.
Play me a sad song because
That's what I want to hear.
I want you to make me cry.
I want to remember the places that we left,
Lost to the mists of time.
I know that you?ll go soon.
You'll find out so take me with you always.
On buses that move through the night
We sleep on and on.
We got off at Memphis, black-top heat will make us thirsty.
We'll never get sick anymore.
That's what I want to hear.
I want you to make me cry.
I want to remember the places that we left,
Lost to the mists of time.
I know that you?ll go soon.
You'll find out so take me with you always.
On buses that move through the night
We sleep on and on.
We got off at Memphis, black-top heat will make us thirsty.
We'll never get sick anymore.
Lyrics submitted by Technophobia
Sad Song Lyrics as written by Udo Arndt Jasmin Zamora
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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,
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
Really do admire this song for its great simple lyrics simple and effective lovely sound and everything it achives and sets out to do, for me a song about a close freind or lover that is soon to depart or has departed and a song to remind you of good times to make you sad both in a happy way or remind teh other person to feel sad just like you.
my interprtation anyways, great little undiscovered band. viva Au Revoir Simone :]
i agree; it's just about remembrance, how it can hurt... i love them too =]
god i love this song. nice to see other people actually want songs to make them sad sometimes.
i always want songs to make me sad otherwise i think id have committed you know what by noW LOL.... anyone wanan chat about being sad add me then :]
I'm glad people actually used the lyrics, I thought they might have been a bit TOO indie, haha. =]
can any1 tell me whats the meaning of "black-top heat will make us thirsty" ?
hey zediax. when i hear "Memphis, blacktop heat," i think of humid summer days and the glare you can see on city streets or behind the exhaust pipes of big trucks. you're always thirsty on hot days like that.
I still don't know why they say "you'll find out". I think it's non-sense. Can anyone explain it to me? Anyway, I simply love this song!!!
I met the girls last summer in Atlanta....We started talking about the meaning of the lyrics of this song....They told me it was about a 4th band member they unfortunately had to kick out :/
suprisingly this isnt the shortest song ive heard. .