Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Mood: Paralyzed
Music: Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
Dear Richard,
I abandoned my cart at Whole Foods today. Again.
I was in line, staring at the tabloids, when the speakers started playing Fast Car.
I froze. It was the line: “You got a fast car / Is it fast enough so we can fly away? / We gotta make a decision / Leave tonight or live and die this way.”
That was our anthem, wasn't it? We used to sing that at the top of our lungs on I-75, convinced that we were two seconds away from escaping the gravity of our lives. We thought we were the ones leaving tonight.
But listening to it today, under the fluorescent lights, I realized the tragedy of that song isn't that they leave. It’s that they usually stay.
I couldn't breathe. I walked out to the parking lot without my groceries. I sat in the Jeep and cried for 20 minutes.
I hope you got your fast car, Rich. I hope you didn't just live and die that way.
Love always,
Taylor