"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.
The part of me that's always sixteen
I've found the secret of eternal youth
Some get high on life or money
There's an escape, drop out of the race
To walk through the world by oneself
You can't be protected
Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath
It's goddamn electric
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Weight of the world has lifted and parted
My eyes roll blind to sights that distracted
Through tunnel-vision and dope-hair blinders
I'll cut a path and evoke my will
To walk through the world by oneself
You can't be protected
Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Slayer
It's goddamn electric
Don't fake your life
Inhale it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Will focus the mind's eye (mind's eye)
One hand on the bottle, the other a shaking fist
Rejuvenated, isolated, no pressure
From the outside
My sight's goddamn electric
And these eyes have seen a world
Goddamn electric system
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
I've found the secret of eternal youth
Some get high on life or money
There's an escape, drop out of the race
To walk through the world by oneself
You can't be protected
Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath
It's goddamn electric
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Weight of the world has lifted and parted
My eyes roll blind to sights that distracted
Through tunnel-vision and dope-hair blinders
I'll cut a path and evoke my will
To walk through the world by oneself
You can't be protected
Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Slayer
It's goddamn electric
Don't fake your life
Inhale it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Will focus the mind's eye (mind's eye)
One hand on the bottle, the other a shaking fist
Rejuvenated, isolated, no pressure
From the outside
My sight's goddamn electric
And these eyes have seen a world
Goddamn electric system
Don't waste your time
Embrace it
And then you'll know yourself
The change in you is goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
Goddamn electric
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Great version of a great song,
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now we all know that this is a song you listen to while drinking and smoking on a saturday night, its obvious what its about.