"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.
He wants to be, he wants to be with everything under the sun
He wants to be, he wants to be with everything under the sun
And like a legend who rises and then falls
I cannot be his only one
He makes me feel, he makes me feel like you used to
Whoa, like you used to
He makes me feel, he makes me feel like you used to
Whoa, like you used to
And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light
I cannot show just how I fight
And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light
I cannot show just how I fight
Babe, I saw you walking, it was after midnight
Carrying nothing except for a flashlight
You wanted to be Romeo, so low at my window
You wanted to be Romeo, so low at my window
Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry?
Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry?
For I do not think you low, though you bow to me so-so
I do not think you low, though you bow to me so-so
I know you want to drink from the purest wine
(From the purest wine)
But the drink is far more sour than you would ever think
He wants to be, he wants to be with everything under the sun
And she wants to burn, she wants to burn hot like that sun
Whoa, hot like that sun
Just like a legend who rises and then falls (like a legend)
I cannot be his only one (his only one)
And like a callous, cold, callous woman (like a woman who never sees)
She'll never see what she did done
And like a legend who rises and then falls
I'll never be his only one
He wants to be, he wants to be with everything under the sun
And like a legend who rises and then falls
I cannot be his only one
He makes me feel, he makes me feel like you used to
Whoa, like you used to
He makes me feel, he makes me feel like you used to
Whoa, like you used to
And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light
I cannot show just how I fight
And like a fickle flower when it first sees the light
I cannot show just how I fight
Babe, I saw you walking, it was after midnight
Carrying nothing except for a flashlight
You wanted to be Romeo, so low at my window
You wanted to be Romeo, so low at my window
Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry?
Will you open the door for me if you believe in chivalry?
For I do not think you low, though you bow to me so-so
I do not think you low, though you bow to me so-so
I know you want to drink from the purest wine
(From the purest wine)
But the drink is far more sour than you would ever think
He wants to be, he wants to be with everything under the sun
And she wants to burn, she wants to burn hot like that sun
Whoa, hot like that sun
Just like a legend who rises and then falls (like a legend)
I cannot be his only one (his only one)
And like a callous, cold, callous woman (like a woman who never sees)
She'll never see what she did done
And like a legend who rises and then falls
I'll never be his only one
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