"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.
Find yourself down on your knees again
The question is when's it gonna end?
It just seems this will never change
It's the same shit as yesterday
Taking shots all that you can take
And now, you hate yourself more than you can hate
There's gonna be an emergeny
I swear, I's at the stage where something's gonna break
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Soon the shit's gonna hit the fan
You see it's coming on like a hurricane
Tired of being pushed around, now
Getting close you're at the edge
If you're going down, everybody's going down
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end (x2)
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Tired of being pushed around
There's gonna be an emergency
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end (x2)
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Get out, get out, get out!
Get out, get out, get out!
The question is when's it gonna end?
It just seems this will never change
It's the same shit as yesterday
Taking shots all that you can take
And now, you hate yourself more than you can hate
There's gonna be an emergeny
I swear, I's at the stage where something's gonna break
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Soon the shit's gonna hit the fan
You see it's coming on like a hurricane
Tired of being pushed around, now
Getting close you're at the edge
If you're going down, everybody's going down
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end (x2)
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Tired of being pushed around
There's gonna be an emergency
Running like a freight train, you're going insane
It's just another day, for all these bloody veins
It's like a whirlwind pushing in the deep end (x2)
You're screaming to a friend
Get out, get out, get out!
Get out, get out, get out!
Get out, get out, get out!
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This song is about someone who's tired of being pushed around and taken advantage of so they're going to stand up and stop the shit.