'The Promise'
If you wait for me,
Then I'll come for you,
Although I've travelled far...
I always hold a place for you in my heart.
If you think of me,
If you miss me - once in awhile.
Then I'll return to you...
I'll return, and fill that space in your heart.
Remembering: your touch, your kiss, your warm embrace,
I'll find my way back to you...
If you'll be waiting.
If you dream of me - like I dream of you.
In a place that's warm and dark.
In a place where I can feel that beating of your heart.
Remembering: your touch, your kiss, your warm embrace,
I'll find my way back to you...
If you'll be waiting.
I'll long for you.
And I'll have desired...
To see your face, your smile.
To be with you wherever you are.
Remembering: your touch, your kiss, your warm embrace,
I'll find my way back to you...
Please say you'll be waiting.
Together again...
It would feel so good to be in your arms...
Where all my journeys end.
You can make a promise, if it's one you can keep.
I vow to come to you if you wait for me.
Say you'll hold a place for me, in your heart.
A place for me in your heart.
A place for me in your heart.
I think this is reminiscent of a relationship which was once intimate, loving and meaningful. It is however, poignant as it sounds melancholy, however quite hopeful in that the speaker feels the distance between them both will perhaps one day be rekindled. It also sounds as though the other person lost feelings for the speaker, and the speaker is almost making a promise to that other person that despite the distance that that other person has made, she promises to always return back to him as long as he waits for her. The speaker sounds as though she continuously reminisces on: 'your touch, your kiss, your warm embrace'. The repetition of 'your' emphasises her yearning for that particular person in her life... It makes no reference to any other touch, kiss or embrace - it has to be his ('your'). There's also a sense that she's incomplete without him as she states that, 'It would feel so good to be in your arms... / Where all my journeys end". 'Journeys end' gives a sense of completeness and fulfilment. His arms act as a place where she feels she has reached her goal in life. 'Fill that space in your heart' also reflects the emptiness and room for another person which she promises she'll fill. Alternatively, it may not be showing a distance and yearning, but it may be an initial promise to someone that she's in love with. It may be a promise to him that she'll always remember and think of him. It may also be her way of hoping that the person she is with will always think of her to be special and worthy of a place in his heart.
'Fast Car'
You've got a fast car...
I want a ticket to anywhere.
Maybe we could make a deal.
Maybe together we could get somewhere.
Any place is better... Starting from zero - got nothing to lose.
Maybe we'll make something.
Me, myself, I've got nothing to prove.
You've got a fast car...
I've got a plan to get us out of here.
Been working at the convenient store... Managed to save just a little bit of money.
Won't have to drive too far... Just across the border and into the city.
You and I can both get jobs, finally see what it means to be living.
See my old mans got a problem...
Give with the bottle that's the way it is.
He says he's body is too old for working,
His body is too young to look like this.
My Mum went off and left him,
She wanted more from life than he could give.
I said somebody has got to take care of him... So I quit school.
That's what I did.
You've got a fast car...
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We've got to make a decision...
Leave tonight or live and die this way.
Remember we were driving driving in your car,
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk.
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder.
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.
You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs
You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving.
You got a fast car.
But is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way.
This is the first Tracy Chapman song I heard - I have loved it ever since. The start of the song sounds adventurous with the 'I want a ticket to anywhere', which encapsulates the love and togetherness the speaker and the other person has. It sound as though they're stuck in a place which limits them both and therefore the 'fast car' the other person has got acts as a release and potential for their relationship. The repetition of 'you got a fast car' emphasises their desperation, longing and hope that the car will fulfil its purpose to leave their old life behind which acts as a hindrance. The speaker sounds as though she's worked hard by 'working at the convenient store' and managed to save 'just a little bit of money'. This highlights the hope and potential that they will 'cross the border into the city'. The speaker states that 'we've got to make a decision. Leave tonight, or live and die this way'. The use of 'we' reflects the togetherness and partnership they both have. It also shows how they'll remain together to fight their struggles. However, the mood changes in the song as the man 'still ain't got a job' and she works in a 'market as a checkout girl'. Despite this, she knows 'things will get better' and hopes that he'll find work and she'll get promoted. There's then a sense of reality and realisation that she is still the one who remains to pay all the bills and working hard for their future and he stays out 'drinking late at the bar'. She now finds herself in the same position as her mother, as like her mother (faced with her alcoholic father), she is now faced with her partner being an alcoholic. The speaker has come to realise that like her mother she wants more to life than he can give. Due to her partner being an alcoholic, she feels that like her mother, she has got to go off and leave him. She reflects on this and states that she 'always hoped for better' and thought that as a pair they'd find it, however she's left with nothing now and therefore she tells him to 'take your fast car and keep on driving'. She states that she's realised it was all a fantasy and that she 'aint going nowhere'. The initial use of the word 'we' changes to 'you' as she tells him that: 'you got to make a decision, / You leave tonight or live and die this way'.
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