"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.
Go ahead. Press the flesh with another dead televangelist. Now just smile. Hold. It’s all the same. Smiles and handshakes. We’re all the same. “We’re all dancing to the same song because we know it by heart.” This job turns us into our alcoholic fathers, rubbing elbows with clientele and putting our fists through walls. Smiles and handshakes. This tired song and dance routine feels like Monday mornings with coffee house intellectuals. It’s so quiet you can hear a name drop during the appropriate breaks. Punch your timecard and wait for tomorrow.
Lyrics submitted by darkLIGHT313
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Fast Car
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This song is a juxtaposition of dealing with worthless people and being a prostitute; sort of how they eerily connect. But when it comes down to it, this is all smiles & handshakes.