"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 she stands, this lovely creature
There she stands, there she stands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
So I asked this lovely creature
Yes, I asked
Yes, I asked
Would she walk with me a while
Through this night so vast
She took my hand, this lovely creature
"Yes", she said, "Yes", she said
"Yes, I'll walk with you a while"
It was a joyful man she led
Over hills, this lovely creature
Over mountains, over ranges
By great pyramids and sphinxes
We met drifters and strangers
Oh the sands, my lovely creature
And the mad, moaning winds
At night the deserts writhed
With diabolical things
Through the night, through the night
The wind lashed and it whipped me
When I got home, my creature
Was no longer with me
Somewhere she lies, this lovely creature
Beneath the slow drifting sands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
There she stands, there she stands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
So I asked this lovely creature
Yes, I asked
Yes, I asked
Would she walk with me a while
Through this night so vast
She took my hand, this lovely creature
"Yes", she said, "Yes", she said
"Yes, I'll walk with you a while"
It was a joyful man she led
Over hills, this lovely creature
Over mountains, over ranges
By great pyramids and sphinxes
We met drifters and strangers
Oh the sands, my lovely creature
And the mad, moaning winds
At night the deserts writhed
With diabolical things
Through the night, through the night
The wind lashed and it whipped me
When I got home, my creature
Was no longer with me
Somewhere she lies, this lovely creature
Beneath the slow drifting sands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
He's a nutter. It's as simple as that.
It's as though his favourite persona is this lunatic who sees a woman as a delicate, pretty little flower, then is consumed by some insane rage that leads him to either chop her up into tiny little pieces, or stalk her until she asks the police for a new identity.
The whole song has a fantastic air of madness about it, though, and "oh, the sands, my lovely creature, and the mad moaning winds" verse brings up images that you'd be more likely to have after munching strange cactuses in the desert. Very trippy and engaging.
Very, very unsettling. All those light, girly la-la-las in the background that turn funereal towards the end, so you know it's not going to end well, & that disturbing image of the woman lying under the sands with her ribbons still in her hair & her green gloves still on... I always say that songs aren't always autobiographical & you can't read too much into them, & I love these murder ballads & Nick Cave's stuff generally, but he's not the kind of man you'd want to bump into in a dark alley!
Since this song is from the "Murder Ballads"-Album I guess it's pretty fair to assume the narrator meets a pretty girl, spends some time with her, then kills her and buries her body in the desert. My mind always set this "story" in Las Vegas - I guess because of "over mountains, over ranges / by great pyramids and sphinx / we met drifters and strangers" rather made me think of scenes I saw in CSI (now CSI Vegas) than of Egypt; also - and I hope that does not sound wrong - a "lovely creature" with "hair full of ribbons and green gloves on her hands" sounds like THAT kind of "exclusive company" you can find easily along the strip. So both go on a trip through Las Vegas, ending up somewhere outside in the desert - where something happens and he kills her.
But when I heard the song for the very first time (admidetally I was quite young back then and English is my second language, so it was far from being perfect) I thought it was about a vanishing hitchhiker. A guy sees that beautiful girl that is dressed a bit old-fashioned (I mean, ribbons in the hair and gloves made me think of Southern Belles) and he offers her a ride. She takes the offer and leads him very chaoticly around, even into a sand-storm, and when he finally makes it home - she's gone. Somewhere later he finds out that the "lovely creature" is dead, buried in the desert, and she probably tried to lead him there so that finally somebody discovers her body.
This is one of my favourites from this album, really creepy grunts and heavy breathing from Nick between verses.
This song is just amazing,, as we don't know really if he killed the woman ( in this case it's a Nick Cave's song like the others which are still amazing ) or if it's just like an abstract dream, about finding and losing love