LESSON #34
FAST CAR (Lyrics)
You got a fast carI want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterStarting from zero got nothing to loseMaybe we'll make somethingMe, myself, I got nothing to proveYou got a fast carI got a plan to get us outta hereI've been working at the convenience storeManaged to save just a little bit of moneyWon't have to drive too farJust 'cross the border and into the cityYou and I can both get jobsAnd finally see what it means to be livingSee, my old man's got a problemHe lives with the bottle, that's the way it isHe says his body's too old for workingHis body's too young to look like hisMy mama went off and left himShe wanted more from life than he could giveI said somebody's got to take care of himSo I quit school and that's what I didYou got a fast carIs it fast enough so we can fly away?We gotta make a decisionLeave tonight or live and die this waySo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneYou got a fast carWe go cruising, entertain ourselvesYou still ain't got a jobAnd I work in the market as a checkout girlI know things will get betterYou'll find work and I'll get promotedWe'll move out of the shelterBuy a bigger house and live in the suburbsSo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneYou got a fast carI got a job that pays all our billsYou stay out drinking late at the barSee more of your friends than you do of your kidsI'd always hoped for betterThought maybe together you and me would find itI got no plans, I ain't going nowhereTake your fast car and keep on drivingSo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneYou got a fast carIs it fast enough so you can fly away?You gotta make a decisionLeave tonight or live and die this waySource: LyricFind Songwriter: Tracy L. ChapmanTracy Chapman said, At the time that I wrote the song, I actually didn’t really know who I was writing about. Looking back at it, and this happens with other songs as well, that I feel like I understand it only later… I think that it was a song about my parents… And about how when they met each other they were very young and they wanted to start a new life together and my mother was anxious to leave home. My parents got married and went out into the world to try to make a place for themselves and it was very difficult going.
My mother didn’t have a high school diploma and my father was a few years older. It was hard for him to create the kind of life that he dreamed of… With the education that he had…. With the opportunities that were available to him… In a sense I think they came together thinking that together they would have a better chance at making it”
https://www.nfb.ca/film/very_nice_very_nice/
Very Nice, Very Nice is N.F.B. filmmaker Arthur Lipsett's opinions about day-to-day life in America interpreted through snapshots and sound collages pondering if life is better than it was thirty years ago.
While working at the National Film Board in 1961, Lipsett collected pieces of audio from the waste bins and pieced them together as a hobby. When his friends heard about this, they suggested that he add images to it. The result was the film Very Nice, Very Nice.
Very Nice, Very Nice was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 34th Academy Awards
WORKING IN GROUPS OF THREE AND REPLAYING THE VIDEO - DETERMINE AT LEAST FIVE (5) WAYS YOU THINK ARTHUR LIPSETT IS BEING CRITICAL OF DAY-TO-DAY LIFE.
Keep notes and be prepared to share your group's thoughts with the class. Don't Upload on Moodle
In preparation for the Final Exam Test on Thursday which will contain a portion of an old OSSLT Test from 2012-2013, work with a partner on the attached OSSLT Test.
IGNORE THE FIRST ESSAY QUESTION HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN
Don't Upload any answers
We will go over the results in a break-out room and/or as a class
Write a reflection in any form that you wish: a poem, a paragraph (150-word minimum), an original drawing, an original painting, a series of five photographs (original or from the Internet.
The reflection should be based on all or part of today's song