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Speed (and other things that kill me)
by peter flynn

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Speed (and other things that kill me) is a song about a journey towards change, about the apathy we experience in and around us and the hope we have for the future.

Cape Town is our city yeah but its so much slower
So if you get stuck behind me don't expect me to pull over
There's no way you've anywhere to go any faster than me

There are so many other things that we ought to be doing
Procrastination, indignation, pressures always looming
Isn't there some way that you can, that he can, that they can all be heard?

There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but I'm wasting away my time
There are so many things, I'd rather be saying but these words betray my mind
There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but I'm wasting away my time
There are so many things, that need saying but who is going to get it right?

We all want fame but you can't afford it
So you're writing on the walls, and hoping they're gonna record it
I know I know an answer, but you don't want to hear it.

So I'm riding down the main road in my LDV
I've got love I've got Jesus but I'm running out of energy
But I just hope that you come around soon - I just hope that you're looking for the truth,

I know I know the way it is, you know you know the way it is
I know you know the way it is, you know I know the way it is

There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but I'm wasting away my time
There are so many things, I'd rather be saying but these words betray my mind
There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but I'm wasting away my time
There are so many things, that need saying but who is going to get it right?

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meanings

We live in the most lethargic city in the country, perhaps the entire world and we like it..... Cape Town is our city, yeah, but its so much slower..... and it comes across in the way we drive, either way too slow or way too fast (usually because we're late.)

We are often blissfully unaware of the need for anyone to do anything faster than us ... so if you get stuck behind me don't expect me to pull over, there's no way you've got anywhere to go any faster than me.

At the same time however we know that there is so much that we ought to be doing, saying...... We get frustrated, we procrastinate and get indignant........ after all who cares about what we want to say, and who could possibly say what we want to say correctly, "who's gonna get it right." And everybody has something to say, everybody has a voice. Isn't there some way that we can, that He (God) can and they (everybody else) all be heard?

As we drive along the main road in Cape Town in my LDV(light delivery vehicle which is a better explanation of songs than of cars), we see graffiti on the walls.... the writers or tag artists also want fame (success, acknowledgement and a 'voice'), but they can't afford to go through the "correct channels" (education, capital for entrepreneurship) so the writing is literally "on the wall," because our government has no real solutions.

They're hoping what they have to say will be noticed and recorded. And you (they) know you know the way it is (how it all works together for or against us, the system) and I know I know the way it is (because we do) and I know you know the way it is (We are not belittling the understanding of those around us and we are not judging them) and you know I know the way it is (despite what may be said, even affluent white boys understand the difficulties of this system although we may not experience every person's perspective. But then other people have never experienced our perspective which encompasses its own difficulties).

And so, there are so many things I'd rather be doing than wasting away my time, there are so many things I'd rather be saying but these words betray my mind (I can not say what I mean). There are so many things I'd rather be doing, but still I am wasting away my time and not doing anything pro-active, there are so many things that need to be said, but who wants to hear? Who is going to get it. Right?

And thus the speed of life, the speed of change, the lethargy and apathy we see around us (including our own), kills us and is killing everyone around us (symbolically of course). This song is an appeal for change and an appeal for others to hear us out, we know we know an answer but we feel that no one wants to hear it. Our answer is, of course, Jesus and the love of God. That is why we say "I've got Love, I've got Jesus" but we are tired already because we feel that no one will hear us and that is why "I am running out of energy."

In the end, we hope that you (they ...... even us) come around soon....... we hope that you're (everybody) looking for the truth (whatever it may turn out to be) like we are.

This song is a joyful song in mood because despite the slowness and frustration we are experiencing, we are also on a journey. We have found a firm and trustworthy starting point and we are moving forward. Now all we need to do is take the journey seriously, run the race to win in a sense. The truth is that "life is a journey not a destination" but you can definately travel too fast or too slow and either way it will kill you in the end. A new idiomatic expression should take place of the old one: "fast but sure wins the race."

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