"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.
I went to work for her that summer
A teenage kid so far from home
She was a lonely widow woman
Hell bent to make it on her own
We were a thousand miles from nowhere
Wheat fields as far as I could see
Both needing something from each other
Not knowing yet what that might be
'Til she came to me one evening
Hot cup of coffee and a smile
In a dress that I was certain
She hadn't worn in quite a while
There was a difference in her laughter
There was a softness in her eyes
And on the air there was a hunger
Even a boy could recognize
She had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightning from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Raging in her lover's eyes
She had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burning bright
Rushing headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burning both ends of the night
That summer wind was all around me
Nothing between us but the night
When I told her that I'd never
She softly whispered "That's alright"
And then I watched her hands of leather
Turn to velvet in a touch
There's never been another summer
When I have ever learned so much
We had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightnin' from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Ragin' in each others eyes
We had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burnin' bright
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
I often think about that summer
The sweat, the moonlight and the lace
And I have rarely held another
When I haven't seen her face
And every time I pass a wheat field
And watch it dancin' with the wind
Although I know it isn't real
I just can't help but feel
Her hungry arms again
She had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightnin' from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Ragin' in her lover's eyes
She had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burnin' bright
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
A teenage kid so far from home
She was a lonely widow woman
Hell bent to make it on her own
We were a thousand miles from nowhere
Wheat fields as far as I could see
Both needing something from each other
Not knowing yet what that might be
'Til she came to me one evening
Hot cup of coffee and a smile
In a dress that I was certain
She hadn't worn in quite a while
There was a difference in her laughter
There was a softness in her eyes
And on the air there was a hunger
Even a boy could recognize
She had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightning from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Raging in her lover's eyes
She had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burning bright
Rushing headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burning both ends of the night
That summer wind was all around me
Nothing between us but the night
When I told her that I'd never
She softly whispered "That's alright"
And then I watched her hands of leather
Turn to velvet in a touch
There's never been another summer
When I have ever learned so much
We had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightnin' from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Ragin' in each others eyes
We had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burnin' bright
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
I often think about that summer
The sweat, the moonlight and the lace
And I have rarely held another
When I haven't seen her face
And every time I pass a wheat field
And watch it dancin' with the wind
Although I know it isn't real
I just can't help but feel
Her hungry arms again
She had a need to feel the thunder
To chase the lightnin' from the sky
To watch a storm with all its wonder
Ragin' in her lover's eyes
She had to ride the heat of passion
Like a comet burnin' bright
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
Rushin' headlong in the wind
Out where only dreams have been
Burnin' both ends of the night
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Fast Car
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Great version of a great song,
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Plastic Bag
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TRU DAT.I've heared of such things happening before.It's not so astonishing.The age difference is a number between 1 and 90.They could possible have been close to the same age.Don't judge a book by it's cover or a song by it's lyrics.Ummm...or a songwriter by his or her songs.lol.