"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.
cold hands touching my face
don't hide - the snake can see you
old friends you might not remember
fading away from you
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
and we looked
and we passed
through the hallways of shatterproof glass
she runs through the night as if nobody cares
she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
she wants me to come, but i'm never going there
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
don't hide - the snake can see you
old friends you might not remember
fading away from you
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
and we looked
and we passed
through the hallways of shatterproof glass
she runs through the night as if nobody cares
she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
she wants me to come, but i'm never going there
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
Lyrics submitted by one hit wonder
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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.
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
i cant make much out of it...but i think its basically about a girl he loves possibly. wonderful song though. one of gbv's best.
Fucked if I know what it means but it's one of my favorite songs. It's alot different then Teenage FBI and the other more popular songs though.
My intuition is that he's singing about a woman he once loved who is having terrible problems with mental illness, and is perhaps confined to an institution.
("...we passed through the hallway of shatterproof glass..." i.e. they can see but they can't touch. The glass imprisons those on one side, while on the other side it protects the "normal" world from being "infected" by insanity)
He desperately wishes he could do something to help, but fears that if he gets too involved with her, his own mental state will succumb to the same downward spiral.
Bob only knows what "goldheart mountaintop queen directory" means. It could be an example of the kind of (apparently?) meaningless "word salad" spoken by people who are schizophrenic or who have brain damage.
Robert pollard once said that this was about how he took acid and looked in the mirror and his face changed into that of his sons. I don't really get how the lyrics convey this though.
I think he's said that the lyrics don't really reflect the experience, just that it inspired the song...as much sense as that means, i can't find the specific quote.
This song has a clear sexual theme. The most prominent example is the second 'verse': "she runs through the night as if nobody cares she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares she wants me to come, but i'm never going there" The literal meanings of these lines are most definitely related to public sex, or exhibitionism. It's possible Pollard is talking about erection dysfunction with the line "she wants me to come, but i'm never going there" and the line "she screams and she cries, and ignores all the stares" is pretty self explanatory here.
"the hallways of shatterproof glass" are a metaphoric reference to the vaginal passage, and "we passed through" is another reference to sex.
"cold hands touching my face don't hide - the snake can see you" This is slightly more tricky, and more perverse. Pollard said in an interview that these lines were relating to a darker side of sex; necrophilia ("cold hands touching my face") and unconsensual sex ("don't hide, the snake can see you" - snake being a common colloquial term for penis)
This leaves the most important, and most cryptic part of the song - the title. At first it may seem like a meaningless sentence, "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" but there's actually a story behind the name. In the same interview previously mentioned, Pollard tells of an incident back in 1973 that occurred on a mountain in the Sierra Nevada known to locals as Goldheart Mountain. Apparently the details are sketchy, but Pollard tells the interviewer that there was a building, or encampment somewhere on the mountain that housed captive immigrants or missing girls (Queens) for the purpose of sex. A sort of nonconsensual brothel - clients would enter and pick which girl they would sleep with (the Directory). The operation was discovered and shut down in '73. But it explains the title - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory.
-- 0037
You're all way off. Bob said himself this song is about an acid trip.
Trough lyrical medium Pollard throws splashes of imagery on a canvas of jagged disconnected thought bubbles. He is the Pablo Picasso of Rock and Roll lyrics.
@Karnenyen Pretty much (and sounds amazing doing it).
"the goldheart mountaintop queen directory"... what the FUCK does that mean
I think by the "she runs throught the night" she's been released from the institution.
The goldheart mountaintop queen directory: It is possible since they have split up or were once in love that one of them has a heart shaped locket made of gold with ones picture inside. not sure about mountaintop. 'Queen' is a synonym( I think) for pretentious manner. not sure about directory either.
for me the song is about a girl you really love, but you know you cant get her because shes a way to good for you. shes the "gold heart mountain top queen directory" .