Just walk away Renee/ You won’t see me follow you back home.
Something in the narrator of “Walk Away Renee” has changed. Or maybe it is something in the world around him that has changed. Yesterday he loved Renee and today he wants her gone. It has nothing to do with Renee, but he knows it’s over. He tells her to walk away, and this time he won’t be following her home.
The Left Banke
The narrator is deeply hurt by the decision, as it brings on tears and rain. Was it an illicit love that he finally came to his senses about? We are left to our imagination to fill in the details. Perhaps his tears were just standard tears brought about due to the end of a good relationship.
Before the full strings and the band come in, listen to the single violin in the first verse. In some versions it is so faint it almost sounds like a different instrument. An interesting choice by The Left Banke that gives the song a unique sound.
“Walk Away Renee’s” chorus really drives this song. It is very memorable, and the harmonies’ The Left Banke provide are distinctive. The flute is a great choice for the solo instrument and the strings throughout complete the sound to make a finely produced record. I see potential that someday this receives a great cover version.
Walk Away Renee Lyrics
And when I see the sign that points one way,
The lot we used to pass by every day.
Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same.
You’re not to blame.
From deep inside the tears that I’m forced to cry,
From deep inside the pain that I chose to hide.
Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.
Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.
Your name and mine inside a heart upon a wall,
Still finds a way to haunt me, though they’re so small.
Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same,
You’re not to blame.
written by Tony Sansone / Bob Calilli / Mike Brown
You got a fast car But is it fast enough so we can fly away?
In Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”, the narrator, her family and boyfriend are stuck in a cycle of poverty. But she has come up with a great plan to escape. See, her boyfriend has a car. What if they drive out of town and they get a job? They both know that if they don’t leave now, they’ll live and die here in poverty like their parents. Deal?
They make the right decision—they leave and start their new life—they are not going to be like their parents. For a while it works out. But then they begin to repeat the pattern of their parents: she gets pregnant too young; he gets drunk all the time. Just like her father, his body is beat down by manual labor that pays little, so he drinks to cope.
Tracy Chapman
Eventually he is out all night, she is taking care of the kids and resents him. They break up—they can’t afford a nanny. Also, they left their town to try to be different from their family so their parents can’t babysit.
And that car…the fast car. He still has it all these years later. It reminds them both of a better time. They both remember how hopeful they were. He still loves it because it takes him back to the good times. She hates. It is a constant reminder of that this was their best shot at making it. And now it is the only thing they own and the only thing he pays attention to.
Tracy
Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” is a throwback to sixties folk and blues music. It is the most unlikely hit of the eighties. Chapman speaks of the plight of the poor—specifically poor black individuals—whose sole healthy escape might be via their car.
Tracy Chapman’s voice in “Fast Car” sounds great. It is understated, but emotional, strong and beautiful. She creates a unique guitar riff that is instantly recognizable, and it sounds great on her acoustic guitar. When the full band comes in during the chorus it feels powerful—like we are joining her on her ride in her 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 we’ll 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 won’t have to drive too far
Just across 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 man’s got a problem
He live with the bottle that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for working
I say his body’s too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody’s got to take care of him
So I quit school and that’s 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
See 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
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
We go cruising entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
And I work in the 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 bigger house and live in the suburbs
See 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
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
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’d find it
I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving
See I remember when 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
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
And they built up with their bare hands/ What we still can’t do today.
Put aside the historical accuracy debate for a minute, Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer” is just a kick-ass song. The riffs and solos and all the guitar work are legendary. Any guitar aficionado has to love this song.
Neil Young
The gist of the message has been expressed in different ways before. The Aztecs were a great civilization that was doing just fine before the Europeans came along and spread their diseases and religion and slavery. Sure, Aztecs did do human sacrificing to appease the gods. Not every religion is perfect. Young’s point is that it was better before we got there. For a great piece of historical fiction about this time period check out Aztec by Gary Jennings.
There is not a large selection of jam band songs on this list, because I find most of them indulgent. “Cortez the Killer” is perfect. If every jam had this many motifs, I could go along with it. While the lyrics might seem out there, they are not. They are in the tradition of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. We should leave nature alone; it is better without us. This song is in that tradition.
Cortez The Killer Lyrics
He came dancing across the water
With his galleons and guns.
Looking for the new world
In that palace in the sun.
On the shore lay Montezuma
With his coca leaves and pearls.
In his halls he often wandered
With the secrets of the worlds.
And his subjects gathered ’round him,
Like the leaves around a tree.
In their clothes of many colors,
For the angry gods to see.
And the women all were beautiful,
And the men stood straight and strong.
They offered life in sacrifice
So that others could go on.
Hate was just a legend,
And war was never known.
The people worked together,
And they lifted many stones.
And they carried them to the flatlands,
But they died along the way.
And they built up with their bare hands
What we still can’t do today.
And I know she’s living there.
And she loves me to this day.
I still can’t remember when,
Or how I lost my way.
He came dancing across the water,
Cortez, Cortez.
What a killer.
written by Neil Young
The best pop, folk, punk & rock songs. Song Meanings, Lyrics, & Rankings.
