"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.
Kneel down you sinners to streetwise religion
Greed's been crowned the new king
Hollywood dream teens, yesterday's trash queens
Save the blessings for the final ring, amen
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
I carry my crucifix under my death list
Forward my mail to me in hell
Liars and the martyrs lost faith in the Father
Long lost is the wishing well
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Fallen angels so fast to kill
Thy Kingdom come on the wild side
Our Father, who ain't in heaven
Be Thy name on the wild side
Holy Mary, Mother, may I
Pray for us on the wild side?
Wild side, wild side
Name dropping no names, glamorize cocaine
Puppets with strings of gold
East LA at midnight, papa won't be home tonight
Found dead with his best friend's wife
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Gang fights, fatal strikes
We lie on the wild side
No escape, murder rape
Doing time on the wild side
A baby cries, a cop dies
A days pay on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Tragic life on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Kicking ass on the wild side
No going back on the wild side
Greed's been crowned the new king
Hollywood dream teens, yesterday's trash queens
Save the blessings for the final ring, amen
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
I carry my crucifix under my death list
Forward my mail to me in hell
Liars and the martyrs lost faith in the Father
Long lost is the wishing well
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Fallen angels so fast to kill
Thy Kingdom come on the wild side
Our Father, who ain't in heaven
Be Thy name on the wild side
Holy Mary, Mother, may I
Pray for us on the wild side?
Wild side, wild side
Name dropping no names, glamorize cocaine
Puppets with strings of gold
East LA at midnight, papa won't be home tonight
Found dead with his best friend's wife
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Take a ride on the wild side
Wild side
Gang fights, fatal strikes
We lie on the wild side
No escape, murder rape
Doing time on the wild side
A baby cries, a cop dies
A days pay on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Tragic life on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Kicking ass on the wild side
No going back on the wild side
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21, edited by digitalmanMKII
Wild Side Lyrics as written by Tommy Lee Nikki Sixx
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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Nikki wrote the song to show both sides of his life. the "I carry my crucifix under my deathlist" is not meant to show a world his hopes to rejoin, it's to show the world that he lives in, or did at the time. He's saying and has repeatedly said he's always kept a foot in both worlds, because that's hope, and if you lose hope you have nothing. This song has a major resonance with him because it shows everything that's ugly, ungodly and real, but carries with it religious overtones that show hope that when he's done "doing time on the wild side" he will leave the earthly hell and go on to a better place. He's talked about it in countless articles. Hope this was a good enough reason to disagree.