"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.
The journey begins with curiosity
And envolves into soul-felt questions
On the stones that we walk
And choose to make our path
Sometimes never knowing
Other times knowing too much
Filtering out the bad that holds us back
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain
Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test
No time for mental crutches
The maker has moved on
I will take it raw and be on my way
Those that stood beside me
I'm glad you understand
Behind these written words
I share the simple plan
To hang on to the way that we feel
From rivers of sorrow
To oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them
Now, there is no turning back
The limit, the sky
I ask my questions Why? What today?
When tomorrow?
Filtering out the bad that holds us back
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain
Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test
And envolves into soul-felt questions
On the stones that we walk
And choose to make our path
Sometimes never knowing
Other times knowing too much
Filtering out the bad that holds us back
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain
Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test
No time for mental crutches
The maker has moved on
I will take it raw and be on my way
Those that stood beside me
I'm glad you understand
Behind these written words
I share the simple plan
To hang on to the way that we feel
From rivers of sorrow
To oceans deep with hope
I have travelled them
Now, there is no turning back
The limit, the sky
I ask my questions Why? What today?
When tomorrow?
Filtering out the bad that holds us back
Take hold of what is true to your hunger
A hunger that will not go away
Plans for tomorrow, they will remain
Won't you join me on the perennial quest
Reaching into the dark, retrieving light
Search for answers on the perennial quest
Where dreams are followed, and time is a test
Lyrics submitted by apocalypso, edited by DaveJ123
Perennial Quest Lyrics as written by Chuck Schuldiner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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perennial quest as in one that is taken up over and over again through out time, it is the search for knowledge or "truth", the hunger for knowledge among darkness.. it has to do with the entire album.(symbolic) because everything is symbolic, what was knowledge becomes a lie once it is spoken, the quest for knowledge is a path chosen by daring individuals that must wade through bullshit, and to know that it is knowledge you put it to the test of time.. filtering out the bad. water is the archetypal symbol of knowledge, clarity. makes me think of Buddhism, which states that all is sorrow until enlightenment, that is.. sorrow is your guide.. keeps you on the path to enlightenment, rivers of sorrow lead to oceans of hope.. the stones that we walk on are heartfelt pieces of truth. also it could be looked at through a Jungian lens; where the shadow is the subconscious that must be cleared or cleansed. Chuck speaks of religion as a mental crutch.. the maker has moved on.. there is no turning back, and he keeps repeating to hold onto the hunger, that will not go away, that will keep you on the path tomorrow.. we change through time and might get lost in delusions.. but the hunger will remain.