"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.
You are really not all that dope
You are really not all that dope
No-no-no no-no-no
No-no-no no-no-no
You read me all wrong, Bello
You need to do your research
An emcee with a 4-song demo and you've got t-shirts?
Hell no.
I don't want to do a CD trade
I want to see your made-for-TV DJ fade
Into the rave scene it seems he just came from
Glow sticks and energy drinks
Gettin' hyped up on white stuff
Never meant to be sniffed
You like dust?
I might bust your whole family
But y'all ain't hippie chicks
And pixie sticks ain't nose candy
You're servin' bags with herbal magic
Sellin' placebos to too many people
Got your girl's ass kicked
Your lady got overpowered and you got played sellin' baby powder
It's over-the-counter drug trade
Oh, you a big shot?
Now you hip-hop?
Shall I stop?
Nah, I think not.
I rip shop like parking tickets
Use sling shots to target bigots
Cause I don't really kill cops
I just want you to think I it
You are really not all that dope
You are really not all that dope
No-no-no no-no-no
No-no-no no-no-no
DJ Undercutter
He wants to feed his turntable scraps
To MC Hollywood who's only fly until his cable snaps
He's a rapper thinking battles were a meal ticket
Came time for the album and he couldn't write real lyrics
8 Mile wasn't true, shit head
It was a promotional tool, but not for you, shit head
So let me tell you exactly what to do, shit head
Don't be a fool, stay in school...shit head
You are really not all that dope
You are really not all that dope
No
No
But am I really all that fresh?
But am I really all that fresh?
Yes.
Yes.
Fake friends ain't got nothing to do with my world
If you ain't dead, you ain't a suicide girl
You can tattoo that to your back with the broken wings
Then hope for the best while you jump from buildings
I wanna levitate like the featherweights huffin' helium
And float outta this place if I ain't fuckin' feelin' em
They need to study lessons and then posse up
Fuck an Apprentice, I've got more firepower than Donald Trump
BB Gun...one hand on the pump
When I run outta' ammo Imm'a slap shot this hockey puck
Soccer moms are copulation with hockey dads
Housewives wear maternity dresses like body bags
They pull out novelty dildos as a party gag and dilly dally at a womens rally where they lolligag
Y'all wear poetry around your neck
It's an outdated laminate and they can't make it to sound check?
You wave your new jack flags like a late pass
"Oh, they ain't all that bad"
Nah, they just fake jacks
They've got a new street slang?
Oh, I'll keep current
No command of language but they act like they're deep cause of it
Fuck a Def Poet and all the concessions they make
I just filled another pinata with demo tapes
I'm gunnin' for you, chump
With a triple barrel shotgun
Don't try to cover up,
My nipple grabs are AWESOME
Shooting all the midgets and I'm shooting all the midgets
Shooting all the giants and I'm shooting all the giants
Yo, peep this...Ladidadi
I hate party people
Hate the way the DJ just plays pop when he drops the needle
I don't want to socialize with guys that I can't speak to
Or women who are see through
Cause I don't need to.
You are really not all that dope
No-no-no no-no-no
No-no-no no-no-no
You read me all wrong, Bello
You need to do your research
An emcee with a 4-song demo and you've got t-shirts?
Hell no.
I don't want to do a CD trade
I want to see your made-for-TV DJ fade
Into the rave scene it seems he just came from
Glow sticks and energy drinks
Gettin' hyped up on white stuff
Never meant to be sniffed
You like dust?
I might bust your whole family
But y'all ain't hippie chicks
And pixie sticks ain't nose candy
You're servin' bags with herbal magic
Sellin' placebos to too many people
Got your girl's ass kicked
Your lady got overpowered and you got played sellin' baby powder
It's over-the-counter drug trade
Oh, you a big shot?
Now you hip-hop?
Shall I stop?
Nah, I think not.
I rip shop like parking tickets
Use sling shots to target bigots
Cause I don't really kill cops
I just want you to think I it
You are really not all that dope
You are really not all that dope
No-no-no no-no-no
No-no-no no-no-no
DJ Undercutter
He wants to feed his turntable scraps
To MC Hollywood who's only fly until his cable snaps
He's a rapper thinking battles were a meal ticket
Came time for the album and he couldn't write real lyrics
8 Mile wasn't true, shit head
It was a promotional tool, but not for you, shit head
So let me tell you exactly what to do, shit head
Don't be a fool, stay in school...shit head
You are really not all that dope
You are really not all that dope
No
No
But am I really all that fresh?
But am I really all that fresh?
Yes.
Yes.
Fake friends ain't got nothing to do with my world
If you ain't dead, you ain't a suicide girl
You can tattoo that to your back with the broken wings
Then hope for the best while you jump from buildings
I wanna levitate like the featherweights huffin' helium
And float outta this place if I ain't fuckin' feelin' em
They need to study lessons and then posse up
Fuck an Apprentice, I've got more firepower than Donald Trump
BB Gun...one hand on the pump
When I run outta' ammo Imm'a slap shot this hockey puck
Soccer moms are copulation with hockey dads
Housewives wear maternity dresses like body bags
They pull out novelty dildos as a party gag and dilly dally at a womens rally where they lolligag
Y'all wear poetry around your neck
It's an outdated laminate and they can't make it to sound check?
You wave your new jack flags like a late pass
"Oh, they ain't all that bad"
Nah, they just fake jacks
They've got a new street slang?
Oh, I'll keep current
No command of language but they act like they're deep cause of it
Fuck a Def Poet and all the concessions they make
I just filled another pinata with demo tapes
I'm gunnin' for you, chump
With a triple barrel shotgun
Don't try to cover up,
My nipple grabs are AWESOME
Shooting all the midgets and I'm shooting all the midgets
Shooting all the giants and I'm shooting all the giants
Yo, peep this...Ladidadi
I hate party people
Hate the way the DJ just plays pop when he drops the needle
I don't want to socialize with guys that I can't speak to
Or women who are see through
Cause I don't need to.
Lyrics submitted by brain_stew
Midgets and Giants Lyrics as written by Brendon Whitney Sage Francis
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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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,
it's fellow not bello