Prompt:
Tracy Chapman's famous song, "Fast Car":
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe well make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove
You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We wont have to drive too far
Just cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living
You see my old mans got a problem
He live with the bottle thats the way it is
He says his bodys too old for working
I say his bodys too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebodys got to take care of him
So I quit school and thats what I did
You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way
I 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 aint got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
Youll find work and Ill get promoted
Well 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
Id always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I aint 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
(http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tracy+chapman/fast+car_20140283.html)
You can go head and listen to it online too!
Response Requirement:
Make a text-to-lyric connection between Bees and Fast Car. Copy and paste the lyrics you are referencing.
NOT FINISHED
ReplyDelete"Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose". When I read this, I think of where Lily started out, her life with T.Ray and her complete loss of hope. She realized any place was better than where she was and no matter where she went, it would definitely be a step up than living with T.Ray. It was true, what was worse than living with an abusive father and not knowing anything about your dead mother? Lily had nothing to lose, she was already at her lowest point and could only go up from there.
"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
Id always hoped for better". These lyrics automatically made me think of Lily and T.Ray. Lily was practically taking care of T.Ray; making breakfast and running errands for him. Lily do this, Lily do that. For example, here is a quote from the book that shows how Lily felt towards T.Ray and his laziness, "Pour me some tea, Lily. Polish my shoes, Lily. Go get the truck keys, Lily." Lily was always hoping for a better life than this. She knew that this wasn't how a real family was supposed to function. Lily wasn't literally paying the bills, like the first line of lyrics said, but she was doing everything else for him that he should have been doing all along.
Shattered by Backstreet Boys
ReplyDeleteSo empty, can't feel no more,
As I'm left with my tears on the floor
I wait for my heart to mend,
But you keep tearing a hole
Inside, I'm so lost,
In the middle of my heart
It's a battlefield of love,
I've been fighting for too long
And now I'm shattered,
(From the chip in my heart, kept taking it till it broke)
Oh how it hurts
(Felt) it slipped from your hand, hit the ground and now it's shattered)
I'm so shattered
(Can't believe it was me, I'm so shattered)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you and me, ahh)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you left me, I'm so shattered)
I'm shattered, cut from with-inside, oh
What am I still here for,
Could it be that I'm just waiting
Hoping you'd rescue me,
And put the pieces together again
Inside, I'm so lost,
In the middle of my heart
It's a battlefield of love,
I've been fighting for too long
And now I'm shattered
(From the chip in my heart, kept taking it till it broke)
Oh how it hurts
(Felt it slipped from you hand, hit the ground and now it's shattered)
I'm so shattered
(Can't believe it was me, I'm so shattered)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you and me, ahh)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you left me, I'm so shattered)
I'm shattered, cut from with-inside, oh
Tell me what you're really here for,
If you never really loved me
I gave my all but it still wasn't enough
'Cause all you had to say was that you ain't
Looking for commitment
Instead of telling me what I wanted to hear, oh-ho
You took my emotions
and scattered them on the ground
So hard to just pick up,
and move on with life, again
And now I'm shattered (Ooh)
(From the chip in my heart, kept taking it till it broke)
Oh how it hurts
(Felt it slipped from your hand, hit the ground and now it's shattered)
I'm so shattered
(Can't believe it was me, I'm so shattered)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you and me, ahh)
So shattered
(Can't believe, you left me, I'm so shattered)
I'm shattered, cut from with-inside, oh
So shattered
Can't believe, you left me, ahh
http://www.metrolyrics.com/shattered-lyrics-backstreet-boys.html
CONTINUING
ReplyDelete"My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give". This connects exactly to what happened between Lily's family. Lily's mother left Lily's father because he wasn't giving her what she thought she deserved. Deborah wanted more from T. Ray, but not in a selfish way. She wanted him to love and accept her like a normal husband would do, but his abuse got too far and Deborah felt she could no longer put up with what he was doing.
"You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way". When I read these lyrics, I think of T. Ray and how if he doesn't change his ways, he's going to die a sad life. By now, it's too late to make a decision because Lily has already moved on. T. Ray should have changed himself when he was with Lily, then maybe she wouldn't have ran away.
"We wont have to drive too far
Just cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living." With these lyrics, I can make a connection with Lily and Rosaleen. They did not run away too far, but far enough to start a fresh life. Like the lyrics say, they both got jobs and finally felt what it was like to actually be living a life where no one else is controlling or preventing them from doing what their heart desires. These lines were my favorite because they reminded me of Lily and Rosaleen's escape for freedom.
"Any place is better." This quote really hit home with me on connecting
ReplyDeleteLily's life with Fast Car. Many times about many things in the book does Lily say "-How completely and absolutely I hated it." Also the song says, "And I work in a market as a checkout girl," which reminded me of Lily working for August with the honey. It's a small job with little pay, but hey, a job is a job. This part of the song is T-Ray without a doubt, "You see my old mans got a problem, he live with the bottle thats the way it is, he says his bodys too old for working, I say his bodys too young to look like his, my mama went off and left him, she wanted more from life than he could give." T-Ray was left by his wife and has all various types of problems, not just these. This song really relates to The Secret Life of Bee's.
The lines "Anyplace is better
ReplyDeleteStarting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove" very accurately describe the beginning of Lily's journey away from home. Lily left the house suddenly with only her mother's belongings. She and Rosaleen risk a lot in this journey, not worst getting caught by T. Ray, and so far Lily has "nothing to prove". Rosaleen said, "you picked Tiburon because your mother had a picture with that town written on the back, that's it?" showing the high stakes of this idea and how only time might come to prove it worthy later. The most stunningly similar lyrics were: "You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way". These perfectly describe Lily and Rosaleen's flight, whether they could escape to a new world or face the consequences, with "[the racists] were gonna come back and kill [Rosaleen], or worse", and T. Ray "on his way back to do Lord-knows-what" to Lily before she took off. Lily and Rosaleen literally had to flee for a new life or die in their old ones. It was a short race against their captors. Finally, the last two stanzas of the song describe Lily and Rosaleen's growing divide, with one person in the song working for a future and the other slacking off, even though Rosaleen wasn't really being lazy. Although Lily and Rosaleen had had several fights before, Rosaleen moving out of the honey house has had a detrimental effect on their relationship that has continued. "We could've been back in the policeman's car riding to jail for how I felt," Lily stated.
“Anyplace is better
ReplyDeleteStarting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe well make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove”
The lyric above from the song Fast Car means that Lily wants to leave T. Ray. Reading through the book she does, but she has a fear of him finding her. Lily has nothing to lose, but her freedom because in her mind she can never loose what T. Ray cannot find and take away. Lily is going to make something alright; she plans to make a life free of pain and misery with the Boatwright’s. Now that Lily left T. Ray she has started a life and its going great and she has nothing to prove because Lily is stuck on the fact that T. Ray lies. What Lily needs to figure out is what the difference is between proof and the truth about her mother.
The song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman reminds me of The Secret Life of Bees. The quote "Anyplace is better," makes me think of Lily's life back in Sylvan. T. Ray treated her horribly, making her run errands and make him breakfast. Anyplace is better for Lily in this situation. Next, the quote "And I got a plan to get us out of here," reminds me of when Lily and Rosaleen leave for Tiburon. Lily doesn't have a plan on how to get there, but she needs to go there. Finally, the quote "And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder," reminds me of Lily and Zach. Eventhough Zach is African-American, Lily still loves him, but she feels like it is wrong.
ReplyDeleteLyrics: I want a ticket to anywhere:
ReplyDeleteLilly wants to go anywhere where her father isn't and were her mother has been
Lyrics: Maybe together we can get somewhere:
Lilly and Rosaleen can go some where better just by themselves.
Lyrics: Any place is better
Any place even if they font have a home is better than living T.ray
Lyrics: Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Leaving her only family with nothing to lose just gain
Lyrics: Maybe well make something
Her and Rosaleen can change their lives for the better
Lyrics: You got a fast car And I got a plan to get us out of here
They have hope and a plan to get to safety
Lyrics: We wont have to drive too far they
They don't have to go far its just a few hour drive
Lyrics: You and I can both get jobs
They can both work so that they don't have to go back to Tray
Lyrics: And finally see what it means to be living
And they can finally be free from T.ray