"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.
She said
"I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad"
And she's making me feel like I've never been born
I said
"Who put all those things in your head?
Things that make me feel that I'm mad
And you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said, "You don't understand what I've said"
I said, "No no no, you're wrong"
When I was a boy
Everything was right
Everything was right
I said
"Even though you know what you know
I know that I'm ready to leave
'Cause you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said, "You don't understand what I've said"
I said, "No no no, you're wrong"
When I was a boy
Everything was right
Everything was right
I said
"Even though you know what you know
I know that I'm ready to leave
'Cause you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said
She said
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad
I know what it is to be sad
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it's like to be dead
"I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad"
And she's making me feel like I've never been born
I said
"Who put all those things in your head?
Things that make me feel that I'm mad
And you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said, "You don't understand what I've said"
I said, "No no no, you're wrong"
When I was a boy
Everything was right
Everything was right
I said
"Even though you know what you know
I know that I'm ready to leave
'Cause you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said, "You don't understand what I've said"
I said, "No no no, you're wrong"
When I was a boy
Everything was right
Everything was right
I said
"Even though you know what you know
I know that I'm ready to leave
'Cause you're making me feel like I've never been born"
She said
She said
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad
I know what it is to be sad
I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it's like to be dead
Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by saltcity, JohnnyLurg, OwenHu99, Bluewaves, brais11392
She Said She Said Lyrics as written by Paul Mccartney John Lennon
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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."
No Surprises
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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.
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/
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
Peter Fonda was recently interviewed on "Here & Now" with Robin Young(produced by WBUR, here-now.org). He was being interviewed because of the movie "3:10 to Yuma". Peter stated that George Harrison was having a bad trip & he was trying to calm George down by telling George that he knew what it was like to be dead. So at least I believe the song is in part due to Peter Fonda.
Wikipedia states that there are early demos with the lyrics stating "He said", instead of "She said". Also it states that John Lennon was upset with what Peter was saying and stated "You're making me feel like I've never been born". Eventually John had Peter kicked out.
Boy, I'd like to have Peter Fonda with me if I was having a bad acid trip, especially if I thought zombies were eating my brain, or that he was a vampire. It would be really helpful to hear him say, "I know what it's like to be dead, man."
This song was supposedly written about an arguement John had with a journalast during an interview.
@jslatz This must be the correct meaning. It seems like the journalist knows personal info that he doesn't want the public to know. She tries to get information out of him by trying to sympathise with his boyhood experiences: "I know what it's like to be dead, I know what it's like to be sad." But he refuses to give away anything, so he says that everything was fine when he was young. He wants to leave it at that and end the interview.
I heard this song was written after an acid trip at a party with Peter Fonda. Apparently PF kept telling JL that he knew what it was like to be dead.
Yeah, they were tripping and Peter Fonda was all hopped up and told John he knew what it was like to be dead, and The Beatles all thought he was a total wank and wanted him to get lost.
quote from peter fonda: "I said to George Harrison, 'I know what it's like to be dead' And John Lennon said to me, 'who put all that sh** in your head-- You know you're making me feel like I've never been born.' I said when I was a boy, I shot myself. It was an accident, and I died on the operating table and I suffered from a massive loss of blood, and I my heart stopped. So I died three times on the operating table."
Lennon's acid-mind at the time most likely associated that with the Tibetan book of the dead stuff that he was reading/putting into lyrics like Tomorrow Never Knows. Interesting stuff.
I love the timing of this song and the deliberate choice of the not obvious words.. it makes it really interesting and trippy.
Are these really the right lyrics?
"Who put all those things in your hair Things that make me feel like I'm sad"
Shouldn't "hair" be "head" and "sad" be "dead" Maybe somebody already asked this question. I'm pretty sure at least about the hair/head thing, but I could be wrong.
Oh, geez, i somehow missed the last comment. Nevermind. It's already been mentioned.
Largely thanks to George Harrison's fascination with Indian culture, the latter Beatles ventured into traditional Eastern themes. Tomorrow Never Knows, one of their trippier tracks, features monastic, humming lyrics while describing the art of meditation. Yet despite their wandering style, The Beatles were a Western band through and through, greatly shaping a whole era's culture on their native side of the meridian.
She Said She Said sketches a story about a melancholic girl who expresses her feelings with the darkest aspect of Eastern enlightenment - knowing the afterlife. This girl isn't happy, though, so I suppose she's just posturing with her jabber about being dead inside. She comes off as a little melodramatic.
Prince charming of this song, the narrator and John Lennon, is probably an equally Bohemian friend of the melancholic girl. He must be buying into some Eastern philosophy if the girl is making him feel like he had never been born - I don't think that means anything, really.
The two lean on each other: the girl confides her sadness, the man is given a chance to rescue her. Since the man knew happiness as a boy, and in all likelihood both probably know some happiness in their present life, there is a glimmer of hope in a future together, although nothing is guaranteed. Isn't tentative hope at the heart of music?
sounds like one hell of a party they were at...
This song is about a conversation with Peter Fonda tripping on acid at a party.
John was rather depressed about what he was hearing and probably said so.
"He Said" became "She Said" because it sounds more compelling when sung by a man, suggesting a conversation between possible lovers.
"She Said" became "She Said She Said" most likely because of the arrangement of the ending.