"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.
Stole, stole
Oh, oh
Stole, stole
He was always such a nice boy
The quiet one, with good intentions
He was down for his brother, respectful to his mother
A good boy
But good don't get attention
One kid with a promise
The brightest kid in school, he's not a fool
Readin' books about science and smart stuff
It's not enough, no
'Cause smart don't make you cool, whoa
He's not invisible anymore
With his Father's nine and a broken fuse
Since he walked through that classroom door
He's all over prime-time news
Mary's got the same size hands as Marilyn Monroe
She put her fingers in the imprints
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show
She could've been a movie star
Never got the chance to go that far
Her life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know
(No, no, no, no, stole, stole, oh)
They were cryin' to the camera, said he never fitted in
He wasn't welcome
He showed up to the parties we was hangin' in
Some guys were puttin' him down, bullyin' him 'round, 'round
Now I wish I would've talked to him
Gave him the time of day and not turned away
If I would've been the one to maybe go this far
He might have stayed at home
Playin' angry chords on his guitar
He's not invisible anymore
With his baggy pants and his legs in chains
Since he walked through that classroom door
Everybody knows his name
Mary's got the same size hands as Marilyn Monroe (oh)
She put her fingers in the imprints (ooh)
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show (she could've been a movie star)
She could've been a movie star (oh-oh-oh)
Never got the chance to go that far (oh)
Her life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never know, oh)
Greg was always gettin' net from twenty feet away (twenty feet away)
He had a tryout with the Sixers, couldn't wait for Saturday (Saturday)
Now we're never gonna see him slam
Flyin' high as Kobe can
His life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never, never, never know)
Mm, now we'll never, never, never, never know
Stole, stole, stole
Stole, stole, stole, stole
Ooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mary's got the same size hands (same size hands) as Marilyn Monroe (oh-oh)
She put her fingers in the imprints
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show (she was gonna be a star, oh no)
She could've been a movie star
Never got the chance to go that far (never got the chance, yeah)
Her life was stole, oh (stole, stole)
Now we'll never know (now we'll never never know, no)
Greg was always gettin' net from twenty feet away (he had game, oh)
He had a tryout with the Sixers, couldn't wait for Saturday
Now we're never gonna see him slam (never see him)
Flyin' high as Kobe can
His life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never, never know, no)
Oh, no, no, no
Yeah, their lives were stole
Now we'll never know (stole, stole, stole)
We were here, all together, yesterday
(Stole, stole, stole)
Oh, oh
Stole, stole
He was always such a nice boy
The quiet one, with good intentions
He was down for his brother, respectful to his mother
A good boy
But good don't get attention
One kid with a promise
The brightest kid in school, he's not a fool
Readin' books about science and smart stuff
It's not enough, no
'Cause smart don't make you cool, whoa
He's not invisible anymore
With his Father's nine and a broken fuse
Since he walked through that classroom door
He's all over prime-time news
Mary's got the same size hands as Marilyn Monroe
She put her fingers in the imprints
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show
She could've been a movie star
Never got the chance to go that far
Her life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know
(No, no, no, no, stole, stole, oh)
They were cryin' to the camera, said he never fitted in
He wasn't welcome
He showed up to the parties we was hangin' in
Some guys were puttin' him down, bullyin' him 'round, 'round
Now I wish I would've talked to him
Gave him the time of day and not turned away
If I would've been the one to maybe go this far
He might have stayed at home
Playin' angry chords on his guitar
He's not invisible anymore
With his baggy pants and his legs in chains
Since he walked through that classroom door
Everybody knows his name
Mary's got the same size hands as Marilyn Monroe (oh)
She put her fingers in the imprints (ooh)
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show (she could've been a movie star)
She could've been a movie star (oh-oh-oh)
Never got the chance to go that far (oh)
Her life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never know, oh)
Greg was always gettin' net from twenty feet away (twenty feet away)
He had a tryout with the Sixers, couldn't wait for Saturday (Saturday)
Now we're never gonna see him slam
Flyin' high as Kobe can
His life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never, never, never know)
Mm, now we'll never, never, never, never know
Stole, stole, stole
Stole, stole, stole, stole
Ooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mary's got the same size hands (same size hands) as Marilyn Monroe (oh-oh)
She put her fingers in the imprints
At Mann's Chinese Theater Show (she was gonna be a star, oh no)
She could've been a movie star
Never got the chance to go that far (never got the chance, yeah)
Her life was stole, oh (stole, stole)
Now we'll never know (now we'll never never know, no)
Greg was always gettin' net from twenty feet away (he had game, oh)
He had a tryout with the Sixers, couldn't wait for Saturday
Now we're never gonna see him slam (never see him)
Flyin' high as Kobe can
His life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know (now we'll never, never know, no)
Oh, no, no, no
Yeah, their lives were stole
Now we'll never know (stole, stole, stole)
We were here, all together, yesterday
(Stole, stole, stole)
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I guess we all have different interpretations of this song.. I am a little puzzled about the video & song together, but I'm not too sure that he shot Mary and Greg. Brian shot himself and Mary found him in the bathroom stall. He's now noticed and "everybody knows his name". People were bullies towards him, so now everyone is all sorry and guilty for whatever they did to him. He's no longer invisible. Sometimes people do things like this to get noticed. It's crazy, but I know a few people who committed suicide to finally get noticed. It happens. As for Mary.. Her life was stole, because she got pregnant. Her dreams of becoming a movie star is sort of broken, because getting pregnant was a setback for her. Although having a baby isn't a negative thing, for her age and time, it was. I'm not sure if the baby she had was Brian's like some said. But if you watch the video carefully, she was the only one that didn't make fun of him at the lunch tables while the white dude and Asian chick were pointing at Brian. At the courts, Greg got shot by the guys that walked by. Why? Hatred and jealousy of course. Competition turns into anger and anger turns into hate in most cases. And Greg had a tryout with The Sixers, so there's going to be some jealousy going on there, because maybe the other guy didn't get the spot that Greg did. They had potential, but Life "stole" it from them. Sooo many different interpretations of this song, but this is what I came up with. Nonetheless, this song hits and makes me teary-eyed 'cause this actually really does happen in our world.