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.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
11 comments:
Refer to the samples of 1-4 level responses.
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Anyplace is better
ReplyDeleteThis relates to A LOT of things. This is how Lily feels. That is also how the nun ( that Lily portrays in a sense) feels. Lily wants to be in a different place, but sometimes where u were, was better. But i highly doubt that in Lily's case.
also,We leave tonight or live and die this way
also relates to how Lily wanted to leave right away, on that day, otherwise she would die, or live this way. And Rosaleen might of had something worse happen to her too.
Maybe together we can get somewhere
ReplyDeleteLily and Rosaleen escape together and Lily thinks together they can learn about her mother.
Anyplace is better
Lily runs away from home because she doesn’t like T-Ray so she thinks anywhere far away from him is better.
And I got a plan to get us out of here
Lily had an escape plan for both her and Rosaleen
Managed to save just a little bit of money
They were in the streets like poor people saving up and asking for money.
My mama went off and left him
Lily’s mom tried to escape T-Ray but the day she came back to get her stuff she died.
“Anyplace is better,” This quote can relate to many parts of this book, but one way that it relates is when Lily wants to leave because of T. Ray, and so she runs away, picks Rosaleen up from the hospital and hitchhike toward a town, Tiburon, S.C. that she found written on the back of a picture of a black Mary that once belonged to her mother. I feel that this quote relates to this part of the book because I bet that Lily feels that anyplace is batter than living with T. Ray.
ReplyDelete“You and I can both get jobs”, and “Managed to save just a little bit of money,” Both of these quotes also relates too Lily and Rosaleen because when Lily goes to Augusts house to stay for a little bit, she asks if they can work for them and save up some money.
The last quote that am going to relate is, “I been working at the convenience store”. This quote relates to the book because Lily works at the peach stand for a while because T. Ray makes her.
Many of the lyrics in Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car” relate to The Secret Life of Bees.
ReplyDeleteMaybe together we can get somewhere
Together, Lily and Rosaleen escaped the home of T. Ray. Lily and Rosaleen are now trying to find information about Lily’s mother.
Anyplace is better
Lily feels that any place other than her home is better. She despises T. Ray and constantly has to deal with his abusive behavior.
You see my old mans got a problem
Lily’s father, T. Ray, has many problems. He’s abusive towards Lily and generally mean. He is not a proper father.
My mama went off and left him
Lily’s mother tried to leave T. Ray, due to the way he treated her and Lily.
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way
Lily chose to leave her home and rescue Rosaleen after T. Ray yelled at her about her mother. Lily chose to leave rather than live through T. Ray’s abuse and die there.
This song by Tracy Chapman, called “Fast Car”, was greatly related to The Secret Life of Bees. There were many phrases in the lyrics that connected to the novel.
ReplyDeleteAnyplace is better – This phrase relates to the novel because Lily thinks that any place is better than living with T. Ray. That’s one of the reasons she ran away because she had to get away from her abusive father.
And I got a plan to get us out of here – This part from the lyrics relates to the book because when Lily quickly ran away from home, she did have a plan to get Rosaleen out of the hospital. She called the nurse at the hospital and told the nurse to tell the security guard, who was guarding Rosaleen’s room, to go back to the station immediately. This plan got the security guard to leave and gave way for Lily and Rosaleen to escape the hospital.
You see my old mans got a problem – Lily always thought that T. Ray had some sort of love for her, but he never really did. In the novel, T. Ray punishes Lily, yells at her, curses at her, and does all sorts of things. He kind of does have a problem because he is always angry and irritable.
My mama went off and left him – Lily’s mother, Deborah, who got shot and was killed, was actually deciding to leave Lily and T. Ray that day. She was about to go off and she was packing her bags to abandon her family, but instead, she was shot by Lily.
She wanted more from life than he could give – Deborah wanted to leave because she was always arguing with T. Ray. She was always fighting and was never happy with him. Although she loves Lily very much, as Lily describes in chapter one, Deborah still wanted more from life than arguing with T. Ray all day long.
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder – When Lily was talking to Zach in the car, she began to cry because of something he had said to her. When Zach got close to her and wrapped his arms around her, she liked it very much. She then realized that she was crying for Zach.
“I want a ticket to anywhere”
ReplyDeleteLily doesn’t care were she goes, she just wants to get away from T. Ray and his abuse and cruelty towards her.
“Anyplace is better”
Anyplace is better than her house and T. Ray. She can’t even call her house a home or T. Ray her dad, because it doesn’t describe how they fit into her heart.
“Starting from zero got nothing to lose”
Her life is pretty much dead right now, so anything she does will be better than it hopefully. She has no past besides abuse behind her.
“And I got a plan to get us out of here”
Lily comes into the hospital where Rosaleen is with a plan for them to escape. She can’t deal with her life at home, and wants to try to find out about her mother.
“Managed to save just a little bit of money”
Lily has money saved up from working at the peach stand for T. Ray.
“Just cross the border and into the city”
Lily’s destination- Tiburon, South Carolina, where her mom had a picture from.
“You and I can both get jobs”
They both get jobs at the Boatwright Beekeeping Estate
“And finally see what it means to be living”
Lily can finally see what the real world is. It doesn’t involve T. Ray or kneeling on grits for hours straight, and Rosaleen says she is living in a Dream World while they are at the Calendar Sisters.
“You see my old mans got a problem”
T. Ray has a lot of problems! His main problem is his actions and attitude towards Lily.
“My mama went off and left him”
T. Ray told Lily that her mom left him and Lily and went away, and then came back the day she was shot to get some of her stuff.
“You got a fast car”
They need a fast car to escape quickly before T. Ray comes looking for them.
“We leave tonight or live and die this way”
Lily and Rosaleen only have one chance to leave, otherwise Lily will keep living her miserable life and kneeling on grits and Rosaleen will have to keep putting up with T. Ray and his orders.
“And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder”
Lily is happy and feels safe when Rosaleen is next to her on the bed comforting her and rubbing her leg.
“And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone”
Lily is indeed somebody, and she is a very special somebody, but she just didn’t know that when she was living with T. Ray, who only told her everything she was doing bad and never complimented her.
“I know things will get better”
Lily hopes her life will change for the better once she leaves T. Ray and starts a new life.
“I got no plans I aint going nowhere”
Lily doesn’t have any plans and doesn’t go anywhere because T. Ray won’t let her hang out with any of her friends or go to any parties.
The Secret Life of Bees can defiantly refer to “The Fast Car.” One connection is “Maybe together we can get somewhere” Lily took Rosaleen to Tiburon to get away from town. Lily is hoping she can trick someone and have somewhere to stay. Completing this, she got somewhere with Rosaleen. Another lyric that jumps out to me is “My mama went off”. Lily’s mom wanted to leave T-ray, and ended up getting killed by accident. “You and I can get jobs” also reminds me of the book because Lily and Rosaleen were lucky to get jobs. The last lyric that jumps out is “And finally see what it means to be living”. This reflects the story because Lily never had a chance to be loved. Lily is finally getting a chance to be respected. Providing this is August, May, Rosaleen, and Zach.
ReplyDeleteText-Text lyrics:
ReplyDelete-Any place is better
-I remember when we were driving driving in your car
-and your arm felt nice around my shoulder
-I want a ticket to anywhere
These four quotes above made me think of the book "The Secret Life Of Bees" because of a few reasons. The first quote I found was "Anyplace is better". This makes me think of Lily's feelings about living with ehr father and how she hates being around him. She proabably believes that if she had the chance, she would get out of that house as soon as possible. For example, instead of sleeping in her room on night, lily sneaks out to the back so she can get a better glance of her mother's things instead of having to think of her dad and his next harmful punishment. Next thing you know, Lily is kneeling on grits because her father found her outside that night when she tried to get away for a little. The next quote, which is "I remember when we were driving driving in your car", makes me think of how when Rosaleen and Lily escaped they chose to hitch-hike and drove all the way to Tiburon in a stranger's car. Both Rosaleena and Lily must have remembered that moment because that was their key to freedom and their way of staying away from that mess of a father, T. Ray. If I were Lily, I would not be able to stop thanking that man for having the courage to pick them up. The next quote is, "and your arm felt nice around my shoulder." This makes me think of Lily's feelings for Zach and how that one time they became extremely romantic. It also makes me think of how Lily doesn't feel stupid or dumb for liking an African American boy. It's not their fault they both extremely like eachother. Lastly, the fourth I chose was "I want a ticket to anywhere." This relates to the frst quote I chose in a way since she finds a way to get out of T. Ray's house. This one explains how no matter where she goes, she knows she'll like it better than spending one more second with her father. It's not Lily's fault they don't get along well enough to both respect eachother. I don't blame her for wanting to run away like that. Even though her key destination was Tiburon, she probably wouldn't have minded to go anywhere in the world if it were Paris, France or maybe even California. All that mattered to her was finding a way to get T. Ray out of her life.
These lyrics are telling what Lily and Rosaleen are doing to get away from T-Ray and they dont have much money so they practically have nothing to lose if they get caught.It also says that they are staying at a house(Calender Sisters House).The people in the song are trying to get away from their old man with a bottle, which if you compare it to the book, it is T-Ray and lily and Rosaleen are trying to get way from this awfull man and start a new life.Lily has nothing to loose and neither does Rosaleen and they both have a dream.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics of Tracy Chapman’s song, “Fast Car” relate to the Secret Life of Bees.
ReplyDelete“I want a ticket to anywhere.” – Lily was dying to get out of Sylvan, a place where everybody knew about her mom, where everybody ignored her and she felt left out. She wanted to get as far away from T. Ray as well as her sadness, as she could.
“Maybe we make a deal, maybe together we can get somewhere.” – Lily used Rosaleen to get out of Sylvan, though at a terrible expense to Rosaleen. Lily did not make a deal with Rosaleen, and encouraged her to apologize to the men that made her end up in the hospital.
“… got nothing to lose.” - Lily left the nasty note to T. Ray as she had nothing to lose, and knew she would explode if she couldn’t get her feelings out.
“But me myself I got nothing to prove.” – Lily feels like she had to prove herself to make up for T. Ray’s lack of social aptitude when he left Rosaleen in jail without thinking how it would affect his relationships.
“I been working at the convenience store.” – Lily stole Red Rose snuff from the Frogmore General Convenience Store.
“You see my old mans got a problem.” - Lily has a problem with T.Ray as she never once felt love from him. She was constantly waiting, but he never expressed any love.
“My mama went off and left him.” – Lily was really confused by the lack of memories of her mom. When T. Ray said that her mom left her, and was just coming back to get her clothes, Lily didn’t know what to think. Lily eventually thought that T. Ray was just lying to her to hurt her.
“And I had a feeling that I belonged.” – Lily is finally starting to feel like she belongs with the calendar sisters.
When Lily’s mother went and left her this is like when the song writes my momma went off and left him. When the song says I have a plan to get out of here this reminds me of when Lily made the elaborate plan to escape her house and the hospital. The plans Lily made were quick and simple and it got them out of where she wanted to leave. This is like when the song writes any place is better, the lyrics are like when Lily can go almost anywhere besides her house and she will be better off. Maybe together we can get somewhere, this is like with Lily and Rosaleen. Together they wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. Rosaleen would most likely be in the hospital or still jail and Lily might still be at her house with T-Ray.
ReplyDelete