rainy days, fast cars and memories.

I am just sitting in Palette Art cafe, enjoying their free wifi and drinking a soy mocha.  Not much to say, but I feel like writing (and trying not to over think the proposal that I need to write).

The song “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman just started playing which instantly brings a rush of nostalgic happiness.  This one song can sum up my entire high school life.  The memory of after school in 9^th grade with my group of girlfriends is still a strong image that will always stay with me.  Back in the day before the internet, itunes and right when CD’s were becoming the norm; we would sit in front of the stereo and call into our favorite “Top 40” radio station to request “Fast Car” everyday, sometimes even several times each night.  We would all giggle profusely when our voice would come on the radio requesting the song, usually forgetting to attempt to tape the song because we were also singing and dancing at the top of our lungs to the poetic words.

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 we’ll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

Even though the song is about a couple wanting to move INTO the suburbs, the lyrics of the song seemed to also fit with what we saw as our teenage girl, middle class, suburban angst.  We just wanted to get away from the redundancies of life.  Our parents, siblings, heartbreak, homework. We wanted to “finally see what it means to be living.”  We wanted to “be someone, be someone, be someone.”

Unfortunately – We were only fourteen.  Only two years to go until we could proudly state our independence and freedom, until we could legally get in a fast car and drive away…

Fourteen years later, anytime I hear this song in my car, I turn up the radio full blast and sing at the top of my lungs.  I don’t feel the same angst as I once did, but it is still nice to get away sometimes.  Driving and singing at the top of my lungs still does it for me.