VOA日常语法2024--Learn Indefinite Pronouns with 'Fast Car'（在线收听）

Learn Indefinite Pronouns with 'Fast Car'

　　On today's Everyday Grammar, we are going to look at things that are different from each other: in other words, contrasts.

　　Let's start:

　　At the 2024 Grammy awards, one performance got the attention of many different sorts of music fans. It was the country music singer Luke Combs singing with singer and songwriter Tracy Chapman.

　　Together, they sang "Fast Car," a song that had helped Chapman win a Grammy Award in 1989 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. You can listen to the song on the Grammys website.

　　The song won the Country Music Association Awards prize for Country Song of the Year in 2023. Chapman is the first Black songwriter to win this award. Luke Combs recorded the song in 2023. He invited Chapman to sing it with him at the Grammy awards show in February.

　　The American Dream

　　In today's lesson, we will look at some of the words in the song and explore how they tell the story of two people. The two tried to find the American Dream: good jobs, a nice home, and children.

　　We will especially learn about the meanings of some indefinite pronouns and how they can be used to make contrasts.

　　In the beginning of the song, Chapman sings about going someplace in a 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

　　Somewhere and anywhere

　　In this part, we hear pairs of contrasting words. The first pair is "anywhere" and "somewhere." She says she wants a "ticket to anywhere," which means there is no exact place she wants to go. A similar word appears in the line, "Anyplace is better." Then, she says that together, she and her friend with the fast car "can get somewhere." "To get somewhere" means to succeed or reach a goal.

　　Nothing and something

　　The next pair of contrasting words is "nothing" and "something." The first expression is that she has "nothing to lose." That means she will not suffer if what she tries to do fails. Again, speaking of what the young couple can do together, she sings, "Maybe we'll make something." When we use "something" as an indefinite pronoun, it can mean a thing that is quite good, as in the expression:

　　That's really something!

　　Moving on to the next part of the song, we find the singer is working at a low-paying job and wants to escape.

　　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 ‘cross the border and into the city

　　You and I can both get jobs

　　And finally see what it means to be living

　　Dreams and reality

　　Tracy Chapman has said she wrote the song about the lives of her parents. As a young couple, they struggled to create the kinds of lives they dreamed of. Listen for the words in the next part that contrast their dream with the reality of living in a shelter – a place for people without a home in which to live:

　　I know things will get better

　　You'll find work and I'll get promoted

　　We'll move out of the shelter

　　Buy a big house and live in the suburbs

　　Finally, we learn through Chapman's song that the young woman did not finish her education because she stayed home to take care of her sick father. The couple seems to continue to struggle in the last part of the song, but they have good memories of their younger years. Listen for the indefinite pronoun "someone" here. To "be someone" means to be an important person.

　　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

　　Listening to Tracy Chapman's song, we find that indefinite pronouns can help express two ideas related to the American Dream: to "make something" and to "be someone."

　　How do you express your own dreams for the future? Email us at [email protected] or write to us in the comments.

　　Words in This Story

　　indefinite – adj. (grammar) not limiting or specifying; not referring to a specific or previously identified person or thing

　　pair –n. two of something

　　couple – n. two people who are married, living together, or in a romantic relationship

　　convenience (store) – n. a small market with a limited choice of foods and everyday items