"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.
Hear the rain in the distance
The light shines through the trees
The cool sound makes a difference
What I feel and what you believe
Not afraid of the falling
Or the pain that it brings
When you're down scared and running
And your eyes don't notice a thing
And you know you can't run like this forever
You can try, but it knows where you'll be
And you say you think it's for the better
Heaven knows I'll just wait and see
And there's no time for lonely
And you sing out song and it's never heard, not a word
And the waves come crashing on me
And the song still rhymes
And the sun still shines down on me
The silence shakes the windows
I wrestle the demons in me
The moonlight paints these shadows
And the darkness terrifies me
But I know it won't be like this forever
I've been waiting but it's not calling me
Can't believe this could be for the better
Heaven knows I'll just wait and see, wait and see
Chorus
The light shines through the trees
The cool sound makes a difference
What I feel and what you believe
Not afraid of the falling
Or the pain that it brings
When you're down scared and running
And your eyes don't notice a thing
And you know you can't run like this forever
You can try, but it knows where you'll be
And you say you think it's for the better
Heaven knows I'll just wait and see
And there's no time for lonely
And you sing out song and it's never heard, not a word
And the waves come crashing on me
And the song still rhymes
And the sun still shines down on me
The silence shakes the windows
I wrestle the demons in me
The moonlight paints these shadows
And the darkness terrifies me
But I know it won't be like this forever
I've been waiting but it's not calling me
Can't believe this could be for the better
Heaven knows I'll just wait and see, wait and see
Chorus
Lyrics submitted by jthkmb
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