"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.
It was the first snow of the season
I can almost see you breathing in the middle of that empty street
Sometimes I still see myself in that lonesome bedroom
Playing my guitar and singing songs of hope for a better future
Life is only as good as the memories we make
And I'm taking back what belongs to me
Polaroids of classrooms unattended
These relics of remembrance are just like shipwrecks
Only they're gone faster than the smell after it rains
Last night while everyone was sleeping
I drove through my old neighborhood
And resurrected memories from ashes.
We said that we would never fit in
When we were really just like them
Does rebellion ever make a difference?
So long, Astoria, I found a map of buried treasure
And even if we come home empty handed we'll still have our stories
Of battlescars, pirate ships, and wounded hearts
Broken bones and all the best of friendships
And when this hourglass
Has filtered out its final grain of sand
I'll raise my glass to the memories we had
This is my wish and I'm taking it back
I'm taking 'em all back
I can almost see you breathing in the middle of that empty street
Sometimes I still see myself in that lonesome bedroom
Playing my guitar and singing songs of hope for a better future
Life is only as good as the memories we make
And I'm taking back what belongs to me
Polaroids of classrooms unattended
These relics of remembrance are just like shipwrecks
Only they're gone faster than the smell after it rains
Last night while everyone was sleeping
I drove through my old neighborhood
And resurrected memories from ashes.
We said that we would never fit in
When we were really just like them
Does rebellion ever make a difference?
So long, Astoria, I found a map of buried treasure
And even if we come home empty handed we'll still have our stories
Of battlescars, pirate ships, and wounded hearts
Broken bones and all the best of friendships
And when this hourglass
Has filtered out its final grain of sand
I'll raise my glass to the memories we had
This is my wish and I'm taking it back
I'm taking 'em all back
Lyrics submitted by ADimeADexter
So Long, Astoria Lyrics as written by Kristopher Lee Roe
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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