"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.
Johnny, take a walk
With your sister the moon
Let her pale light in
To fill up your room
You've been living underground
Eating from a can
You've been running away
From what you don't understand
Love
She's slippy
You're sliding down
She'll be there when you hit the ground
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
Johnny, take a dive
With your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things
You can't explain
To touch is to heal
To hurt is to steal
If you wanna kiss the sky
Better learn how to kneel (on your knees boy)
She's the wave
She turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child, yeah
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, alright
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh
One day you'll look back and you'll see
Where you were held now by this love
While you could stand there
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
Move you, spirits move
Yeah, move
Lets you move you
Does it move you?
She moves with it
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh
With your sister the moon
Let her pale light in
To fill up your room
You've been living underground
Eating from a can
You've been running away
From what you don't understand
Love
She's slippy
You're sliding down
She'll be there when you hit the ground
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
Johnny, take a dive
With your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things
You can't explain
To touch is to heal
To hurt is to steal
If you wanna kiss the sky
Better learn how to kneel (on your knees boy)
She's the wave
She turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child, yeah
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, alright
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh
One day you'll look back and you'll see
Where you were held now by this love
While you could stand there
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways, oh
Move you, spirits move
Yeah, move
Lets you move you
Does it move you?
She moves with it
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh
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Fast Car
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I just ript this from songfacts.com (sorry songmeanings.net staff people)
From Into The Heart by Niall Stokes: "It's a song about a man living on little or no romance," Bono says. "It's a song about women - or a woman - but it's addressed to him." Bono talks a bit about theology and about El Shadi - the third and least used name for God in the Bible, which translates as "the breasted one." "I've always believed that the spirit is a feminine thing," he says. "Mysterious Ways" is not about a particular woman. It is about women in general, and the way they entrance, and often dominate men. Says Bono, "At times I do tend to idealize women. It's easy to fall into the trap of separating them into angels and devils for the sake of the drama. But there's no way that there's ever anything anti-women involved. Our songs are not politically correct. They are written from a man's point of view. He's wrestling with different things, there's a flash of anger and hurt here and there. But I don't think women come out badly." (thanks, Oscar - College Station, TX)