"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.
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
And did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers?
The future's in the air
Can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change
Mm
Walking down the street
And distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (with you and me)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)
The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to sing (sing)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (you and me)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
And did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers?
The future's in the air
Can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change
Mm
Walking down the street
And distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (with you and me)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)
The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to sing (sing)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (you and me)
Take me (take me) to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (a glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
This song means a lot to me too, I'm from West Berlin. I was 19 when the Brandenburg Gate was opened in November 1989 and we all ran through the cordon of soldiers and stepped on East German soil for the first time in our lives. Our whole lives before that had been lived under the spectre of nuclear war. The start of the 1990s with the reunification of our country, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Wall, the freeing of the Warsaw Pact countries, was so full of hope and possibilities. I remember thinking that this was the year my life REALLY began. I still cry when I hear this song.
I love it when a song connects with such indelible memories. This is how our lives are defined.
@Nachtrafe - Your words give me hope to think that humanity, apart from governmental collusion and conspiracy, is far more able to live our lives in peace and love than they who unknowingly erode and undermine the aforementioned.
@Nachtrafe This is a beautiful sentiment and this is exactly what I think of when I hear this song. An absolutely beautiful song that gives me chills every time I hear it.
@Nachtrafe This is a beautiful sentiment and this is exactly what I think of when I hear this song. An absolutely beautiful song that gives me chills every time I hear it.
jeez, this is the song that has kept me from killin myself, i dunno why, theres sum thing about it, it makes me feel like i am not alone when i really am, incredible song, cmmon people gimme sum opinions
@thehardyz2001uk bro are you ded? It’s been 15 years and no one said a thing.
@thehardyz2001uk maybe because the song has a message that everything is changing so can your loneliness. The song has positive statement and beautiful melody which makes you feel good :)
This song is about everything that was happening in the world then. everything from the end of WWII,through the cold war, the spring of 1968 revolutions, the USSR war in Afghanistan, the Kosovo and Bosnia conflicts, the fall of communism, and the fall of the berlin wall, and the US on the brink of war in the gulf war. the world had gone through hell for almost 50 years, and it seemed like it may finally be over, and the song is about listening to the winds of change, and hoping that they are a good one. sadly, we know now that more wars, and massacre was to follow.
Mr. Gorbachevev: TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!...President Ronald Wilson "Rock You Like a Hurricane" Reagan.
@komissar Who is Ronald Wilson? LOL
I'm pretty sure this song is about the destruction of the Berlin Wall, and it's a fuckin awesome song.
The video is very much about the Berlin Wall and the song has been seen as a kind of anthem for German reunification however the song is not exclusively about the wall otherwise surely they would have sung about that rather than just about Moscow. The song is about the Wind of Change, hence the title, that led to the glasnost and perestroika and the end of the former Soviet Union.
The Moskva is a river in Moscow. It flows through Gorky Park - a local theme park.
Hey Simonlee ... I think you're a little confused there buddy(unless you're being facetious on purpose). In the context of the song, I'm pretty sure the moskva is not a nazi night club, its simply a transliteration of the russian word Moscow, and is the name of a large river which runs through the former Soviet capital. Gorky Park, again, is a famous landmark in Moscow, as it is the main amusement park for the city, and is situated along the Moskva river. The Scorpions simply wish to portray the changing of times surrounding the fall of the Iron Curtain, as one meandering down by the Moskva towards Groky Park would be able to hear the sounds of people and amusement-park activities going on; the "wind of change" spreading the newfound feelings of freedom to those who previously may not have been able to enjoy the simple pleasures of playing games or riding a ferris wheel.
@Judo_yehh Some people haven't a clue they spout off about song interpretations they have no concept of what the song is about.
This reminds me of the Moscow I grew up in, Moscow of the 90s, when there was freedom and hope in the air.. it's all different now.
What a great song...what's sad is that friends of mine who are freshmen in college have never heard this song, or if they have, are clueless as to what it means. I was young when the Berlin Wall came down, but I remember it vaguely...I have more of an association of it coming down to this song than to memory. What a great song...:)
I may not have been around for the fall of the berlin wall (i was born in late '85) but i'm at a turning point in my life, leaving home for college in a year. So this song really means a lot to me, maybe in a different way than it does to some of you guys, but it's still amazing.