"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.
Please tell me why we couldn't stay
Don't let this feeling ever go away
Let this memory forever be inside of me
Through every hour of every day
It's with the company of these friends
That we drove on through the night
We were carried by the wheels of Armageddon
We're gonna force ourselves to live
Thankful it's hurt more than we've ever felt
It's just our means to an end
And honestly we were armed with our best intentions
Maybe those intentions alone
Are just enough to get us anywhere but here
In the middle of America
Six cylinders will take us further than any president
The same promises that we forgot the last time
There's no difference between staying and a bullet in the head
Maybe it's gonna come from the radio
Or the next eight-hour day
Driving to the next town
A collect call home to your best friend
We are the company we keep
We could live off of dumpsters if we have to
Sell our blood by the pint to make rent
This kind of dignity doesn't come easy
But you'll never find it for sale
Don't let this feeling ever go away
Let this memory forever be inside of me
Through every hour of every day
It's with the company of these friends
That we drove on through the night
We were carried by the wheels of Armageddon
We're gonna force ourselves to live
Thankful it's hurt more than we've ever felt
It's just our means to an end
And honestly we were armed with our best intentions
Maybe those intentions alone
Are just enough to get us anywhere but here
In the middle of America
Six cylinders will take us further than any president
The same promises that we forgot the last time
There's no difference between staying and a bullet in the head
Maybe it's gonna come from the radio
Or the next eight-hour day
Driving to the next town
A collect call home to your best friend
We are the company we keep
We could live off of dumpsters if we have to
Sell our blood by the pint to make rent
This kind of dignity doesn't come easy
But you'll never find it for sale
Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28, edited by skankalite
We Did It All for Don Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
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