"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights
The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs
Prima Donna, Lord, you really shoulda been there
Sittin' like a princess perched in her electric chair
And it's one more beer
And I don't hear you anymore
We've all gone crazy lately
My friend's out there, rollin' 'round the basement floor (ooh)
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye (ooh)
I never realized the passin' hours of evening showers
A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams
I'm strangled by your haunted social scene
Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen
It's four o'clock in the morning
Damn it, listen to me good
I'm sleeping with myself tonight
Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive (oh)
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear, sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye (ooh)
And I would've walked head on into the deep end of the river
Clinging to your stocks and bonds
Paying your H.P. demands forever
They're coming in the morning with a truck to take me home
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
So save your strength and run the field you play alone
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear, sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs
Prima Donna, Lord, you really shoulda been there
Sittin' like a princess perched in her electric chair
And it's one more beer
And I don't hear you anymore
We've all gone crazy lately
My friend's out there, rollin' 'round the basement floor (ooh)
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye (ooh)
I never realized the passin' hours of evening showers
A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams
I'm strangled by your haunted social scene
Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen
It's four o'clock in the morning
Damn it, listen to me good
I'm sleeping with myself tonight
Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive (oh)
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear, sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye (ooh)
And I would've walked head on into the deep end of the river
Clinging to your stocks and bonds
Paying your H.P. demands forever
They're coming in the morning with a truck to take me home
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
So save your strength and run the field you play alone
And someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear (sugar bear, sugar bear)
You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you, dear?
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized, sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye-bye
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight
(Someone saved my life tonight)
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