"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.
There are twelve commandments
There are twelve divisions
Twelve are the pagans who have mapped the sky
In the outer circle
To the inner sanctum
From the octave at the end of time
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
In the atom circle
Where we break the stars
Hammer into anvil, stuffing out the sun
Witness all the killing
See the birth of Mars
Our religion thrown into the fire
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The magician laughs
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the priestess kneels
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The priestess kneels to receive
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The magician laughs
There are twelve divisions
Twelve are the pagans who have mapped the sky
In the outer circle
To the inner sanctum
From the octave at the end of time
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
In the atom circle
Where we break the stars
Hammer into anvil, stuffing out the sun
Witness all the killing
See the birth of Mars
Our religion thrown into the fire
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The magician laughs
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the priestess kneels
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
And the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
Let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The priestess kneels to receive
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided
The magician laughs
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
this song is incredibly cool. its all about tarot cards and astrology. the "pagans who mapped the sky" into "twelve divisions" (or 12 signs: aries, taurus, etc) are astrologers, whose practices originated in i believe the pre-christian era. everything else he mentions are actually pictured on tarot cards, one for ea. day of the month: the lovers, the hanged man, the magician, the priestess, and on and on. for more info, look this stuff up. its cool.
There are eight clear references, as I could point: The Moon, The Sun, The Fool, The Lovers, The Hanged Man, The Magician, The Priestess (it is actually High Priestess in the cards, but then again, who cares?) and the Tower. There are other two I believe to be a somewhat indirect reference: THe Pilgrim, related to the Hermit, and the Trinity, which in the Tarot cards, would be related to the Empress, the Emperor and the Hierophant. As dreamsdeferred said, very cool stuff :)
its a great song, love it ^^
You guys hit the nail on the head. Dickinson wrote this album originally about Alchemy and stuff, but then he connected to the poems by William Blake and it shifted a bit.
I love it.
I've asked my gf (she is quite good at Tarot cards) about the meaning of the chorus. I assume, there are always Lovers followed by the Tower, then Moon and Sun (in this order) divided by the fifth card (the Hanged Man, the Fool, the Priestess, the Magician). As she said, in most common case (you should look at the person and the situation when you use Tarot), the lovers followed by the tower mean breaking of something good, relationships usually. The moon and the sun mean bad and good times, respectively. So, if I understand all this sh*t correctly, there are different ways to lead you to happiness (sun) after the bad things (tower and moon) - the hanged man (finding yourself through thoughts), the fool (going where your eyes watch), the magician (some happy luck) and the priestess (find yourself in religion or some other occult things). Of course, most likely Bruce didn't mean anything like this, or meant something completely different, but I always like to find some hidden messages in songs, especially from Bruce. :) Sorry for my poor English.
These two guys are right, there is nothing else meaning exept astrology and her mistical shits