"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.
Conforming on a Monday
Too often and too cold
But you aren't even listening
Because you are just
Too old to feel an earthquake
Or too cool to even care
But you aren't even listening
So why should I?
You are
A natural disaster
And I've wanted you too much
And now I'm gonna lose
I've wanted you too much
And now I've gotta choose
You're the cause of all this
And I'm sick of trying to please you
And you're gonna feel my emotions coming
Because you're the world
Like a broken damn you're empty
And all that's left are the sticks and stones
That were built by other people
And it really shows
But you aren't even listening
Because you are just
Too old to feel an earthquake
Or too cool to even care
But you aren't even listening
So why should I?
You are
A natural disaster
And I've wanted you too much
And now I'm gonna lose
I've wanted you too much
And now I've gotta choose
You're the cause of all this
And I'm sick of trying to please you
And you're gonna feel my emotions coming
Because you're the world
Too often and too cold
But you aren't even listening
Because you are just
Too old to feel an earthquake
Or too cool to even care
But you aren't even listening
So why should I?
You are
A natural disaster
And I've wanted you too much
And now I'm gonna lose
I've wanted you too much
And now I've gotta choose
You're the cause of all this
And I'm sick of trying to please you
And you're gonna feel my emotions coming
Because you're the world
Like a broken damn you're empty
And all that's left are the sticks and stones
That were built by other people
And it really shows
But you aren't even listening
Because you are just
Too old to feel an earthquake
Or too cool to even care
But you aren't even listening
So why should I?
You are
A natural disaster
And I've wanted you too much
And now I'm gonna lose
I've wanted you too much
And now I've gotta choose
You're the cause of all this
And I'm sick of trying to please you
And you're gonna feel my emotions coming
Because you're the world
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Fast Car
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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.
ok-- I can't help it.. I have more...
OR... "Anthurium Lacrimae decays" could be beauty-inducing tears in witnessing the strange but wonderous parasitic nature of Anthurium ( or Orchid ) species of flowers that wrap themselves up and thrive in Trees.
Either way it describes so amazingly the theme of the ongoing cycles of decaying and parasitic phonomena in nature that is constantly spinning and evolving into new beautiful things and isn't that the true essence of everything. ( lol- I swear I am neither stoned nor drunk.)
Last night I caught AB's interview and performance on WNYC and it seems I am much closer with the above thought than the below. (shakes head.)
anthurium lacrimae (anthurium lacrimae decays underneath the canopies–“Natural Disaster”) Def. Anthurium is a genus of flower that thrives in moist, organic compost. Lacrimae is Latin for tears. Oddly, it’s not rhymed with macramé, which does pop up in another Beast number. Interp. Despite soiling myself, and crying, I am still a pretty flower.
dermestid (a colony of dermestids, undressed and digested–“Natural Disaster”) Def. a type of beetle Interp. Ringo, George.
pleurisy (malarial alleys where kittens have pleurisy–“Natural Disaster”) Def. inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs Interp. By working in references to feline pulmonary disorders, Bird lures the lucrative shut-in cat-fanatic demographic. It’s like the dorky version of a rapper mentioning booze brands. This is one of the song’s two references to lung diseases.
valerian (donning our goggles, valerian ogles–“Natural Disaster”) Def. Sweet-smelling summer flowers. The pink and white blooms were used as a perfume in the 1500s, and the root is often used in herbal remedies as a sedative.
Source link: chicago.timeout.com/articles/music/73329/a-listeners-guide-to-andrew-birds-vocabulary
reposted from an offshot of Tenuousness conversation:
The word macrame does seem to be "woven" ( ha-- I slay me.) into Noble Beast in Nomenclature as well. But for the typist to typo macrame into lacrimae seems a bit unlikely to me. Plural of lacrimal glands = the tear ducts, which, when put into the context of his visitation to the nest of dermestid beetles and the odor he mentions when describing his experience, I gather he means it smelled so bad it brought tears to his eyes! ( maybe I should copy this into Natural Disaster...)
haha.. not stoned or drunk my ass, if you're on songmeanings and making posts it's a dead give away.. and I agree with both of your interpretations..
I believe that the lyrics of the song pose a series of ironies that provides the imagery of the so-called "natural disaster". The most profound example of this is Bird's use of the phrase "Anthurium Lacrimae decays underneath the canopies like a natural disaster." Anthurium is a genus of flower that thrives in moist, organic compost, and Lacrimae is Latin for tears. Therefore, this type of flower should theoretically give life to itself. By being a flower of tears, it should thrive on its own despite the conditions present. By saying that this flower decays, Bird is showing the scope of this fictional "natural disaster." Also, way to copy and paste your interpretation straight off a website Cyberghost.
Huh, it's not the Andrew's song! This one is the Muse's natural disaster... ;)