"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.
Ada, my rarest bud from the desert valley
Your hair of fire and skin of snow
Have coursed me to the heights of the desert mountains
In search of the cure for a rampant fever
Your beauty's power, it plagues me now
I come and scour the land for the desert flower
For beauty and perfume I'd stake my house and my lands
The gold is sleeping in the river but the flower's in my hand
With a paler leaf and a broken petal, I'll paint the king and queen
And to the goldsmith with my flower I'll buy your wedding ring
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
Oxen, sheep and wheat and rye
Land on the north seaside
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
The finest dresses man can buy
And a pearl for to pay my bride
Then with my rarest bowl to her father's garden
Like gold for lamb or wool for clam I gave that man a bowl for his daughter Ada
Your heart is mine and it's mine forever
And she replied, "my fate that lies on yon horizon's tethered me to the sky"
The match arranged, and vows exchanged and the dove flew away
The bells spilled out the hollow canyon on our wedding day
To me she gave her hand and to death do us part
But the bird will nest with one that she has promised her heart
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
The bed from which our sons will rise
And the window where she cries
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A net to catch the birds that fly from the window where she cries
He reaches out and I withdraw
Spilling the flowering bribes from his paw
The broken petals climbing the walls
Stealing my oxygen, no air at all
From the bed I hear him call
But I answer cooing when the night falls
The cotton sword is storming the hall
Cutting my vision to no sight at all
I tied the tulip around her neck
Like a red lead sinker
And blindfold and spin around
And round and round
To the banks of the river and then walk
My true love into the rushing water
And by her long hair, bleeding red
Hair-pulled my love there under until she drown
For beauty and perfume I'd stake my house and my lands
My love is sleeping in the river but the flower's in my hand
With a paler leaf and a broken petal
I'll keep her all to me
And to the river with my flower
I'll hear my true love sing
Your water is still in my friend
Ready to drown
Water, water oh water my kin
Carry me out
This Eine river is mercy at last
Die as she laughs for
He's waiting with a dove's nest
My true love
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A veil that parted o'er my bride
And the breath as my true love died
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A veil that parted o'er my bride
And the blue from the bluest eye
Your hair of fire and skin of snow
Have coursed me to the heights of the desert mountains
In search of the cure for a rampant fever
Your beauty's power, it plagues me now
I come and scour the land for the desert flower
For beauty and perfume I'd stake my house and my lands
The gold is sleeping in the river but the flower's in my hand
With a paler leaf and a broken petal, I'll paint the king and queen
And to the goldsmith with my flower I'll buy your wedding ring
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
Oxen, sheep and wheat and rye
Land on the north seaside
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
The finest dresses man can buy
And a pearl for to pay my bride
Then with my rarest bowl to her father's garden
Like gold for lamb or wool for clam I gave that man a bowl for his daughter Ada
Your heart is mine and it's mine forever
And she replied, "my fate that lies on yon horizon's tethered me to the sky"
The match arranged, and vows exchanged and the dove flew away
The bells spilled out the hollow canyon on our wedding day
To me she gave her hand and to death do us part
But the bird will nest with one that she has promised her heart
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
The bed from which our sons will rise
And the window where she cries
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A net to catch the birds that fly from the window where she cries
He reaches out and I withdraw
Spilling the flowering bribes from his paw
The broken petals climbing the walls
Stealing my oxygen, no air at all
From the bed I hear him call
But I answer cooing when the night falls
The cotton sword is storming the hall
Cutting my vision to no sight at all
I tied the tulip around her neck
Like a red lead sinker
And blindfold and spin around
And round and round
To the banks of the river and then walk
My true love into the rushing water
And by her long hair, bleeding red
Hair-pulled my love there under until she drown
For beauty and perfume I'd stake my house and my lands
My love is sleeping in the river but the flower's in my hand
With a paler leaf and a broken petal
I'll keep her all to me
And to the river with my flower
I'll hear my true love sing
Your water is still in my friend
Ready to drown
Water, water oh water my kin
Carry me out
This Eine river is mercy at last
Die as she laughs for
He's waiting with a dove's nest
My true love
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A veil that parted o'er my bride
And the breath as my true love died
Tulip, tulip
With one word I'd a-buy
A veil that parted o'er my bride
And the blue from the bluest eye
Lyrics submitted by avataraera, edited by sokorny
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
The actual lyrics, taken from the artists website:
Ada, my rarest bulb from the desert valley Your hair of fire and skin of snow Have caused me to the heights of the desert mountains In search of a cure for a rampant fever Your beauty’s power has plagued me now I come and scour the land for the desert flower
For beauty and perfume I stake my house and my lands The gold is sleeping in the river but the flower’s in my hand With a paler leaf and a broken petal I’ll bait the king and queen And to the goldsmith with my flower I’ll buy a wedding ring
Tulip, tulip, with one what I did buy Oxen, sheep and wheat and rye And land on the north seaside Tulip, tulip, with one what I did buy The finest dresses man could buy and a pearl for to bait my bride
Then with my rarest bulb to her father’s garden And like gold for lamb or wool for clam I gave that man the bulb for his daughter Ada Your heart is mine and it’s mine forever And she replied “My faith that lies on yon horizon’s tethered me to the sky”
The match arranged and vows exchanged and the dove flew away The bells spilled out the hollow canyon on our wedding day To me she gave her hand until death do us part But the birds will nest with the one that she has promised her heart
Tulip, tulip, with one what I did buy The bed from which our sons will rise and the window where she cries Tulip, tulip, with one what I did buy A net to catch the birds that fly from the window where she cries
He reaches out and I withdraw Spilling the flowering bribes from his paw The broken petals climbing the walls Stealing my oxygen, no air at all From the bed I hear him call but I answer cooing when the night falls The cotton sword is storming the hall Cutting my vision to no sight at all
I tied the tulip round her neck like a red lead sinker And blindfold her and spin her round and round and round To the banks of the river And then walk my true love in to the rushing water And by her long hair bleeding red hair Pull my love there under until she drown
For beauty and perfume I’d stake my house and my land My love is sleeping in the river but the flower’s in my hand With a paler leaf and a broken petal I’ll keep her all to me And to the river with my flower I’ll hear my true love sing
No water is still my friend Ready to drown Water, water, oh water my kin Carry me out This iron river is mercy at last Die as she laughs For he is waiting where the doves nest My true love
Tulip, tulip, with one what is did buy The veil that parted over my bride And the blue from her bluest eyes Tulip, tulip, with one what I did buy The veil that parted over my bride and her breath as my true love dies