"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.
The press is out, they think we're dressed in blue & brown,
they think we're cut straight from London Town, but we're not,
and it's 20-0-8.
But it's the same routine, it's been the same since 19-80 (AD)
The rich kids' in the hungry neighborhoods out looking for something to eat.
There's a handful of kids on my block, they cryin'
They all tell me New York City's dyin'
With the wave of her hand, she went and took it to another land,
She said, "I can't stand your command"
He said, "Ok, but remember this: I'll be your 30-second clip
advertised on the coffee ya sip, driving by on a fast food strip,
from Baghdad to Brooklyn and you paid for it."
And the man at the corner sells sex & violence.
He don't look you in the face,
but you could just sense it in his eyelids,
And the whole world's a stage,
but down in the crowd it's just a cage paying minimum wage,
and it takes a wrecking ball to break the chain.
There's a handful of kids on your block,
They stylin' and they'll have you convinced
that your whole wide world's an island,
and that it really don't matter much,
as long as you get that bang for your buck,
and you put off today, tomorrow you're fucked.
O' you got your prime, stepping in time in the supper line,
and what you learned in the street was the same as in class,
you gotta eat the weak to advance.
And that sooner or later it is historically proven,
the world's only equator will be left likely in ruin
So you should take what you can from the day and at the end of it
they'll have you lay
beside that restless feeling,
when you're down on the ground and your head's up through the ceiling.
they think we're cut straight from London Town, but we're not,
and it's 20-0-8.
But it's the same routine, it's been the same since 19-80 (AD)
The rich kids' in the hungry neighborhoods out looking for something to eat.
There's a handful of kids on my block, they cryin'
They all tell me New York City's dyin'
With the wave of her hand, she went and took it to another land,
She said, "I can't stand your command"
He said, "Ok, but remember this: I'll be your 30-second clip
advertised on the coffee ya sip, driving by on a fast food strip,
from Baghdad to Brooklyn and you paid for it."
And the man at the corner sells sex & violence.
He don't look you in the face,
but you could just sense it in his eyelids,
And the whole world's a stage,
but down in the crowd it's just a cage paying minimum wage,
and it takes a wrecking ball to break the chain.
There's a handful of kids on your block,
They stylin' and they'll have you convinced
that your whole wide world's an island,
and that it really don't matter much,
as long as you get that bang for your buck,
and you put off today, tomorrow you're fucked.
O' you got your prime, stepping in time in the supper line,
and what you learned in the street was the same as in class,
you gotta eat the weak to advance.
And that sooner or later it is historically proven,
the world's only equator will be left likely in ruin
So you should take what you can from the day and at the end of it
they'll have you lay
beside that restless feeling,
when you're down on the ground and your head's up through the ceiling.
Lyrics submitted by fistfuloflove
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Little Feat
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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”
Gentle Hour
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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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Page
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
These are some good lyrics right here