"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.
Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate. will nature make a man of me yet?
When in this charming car. this charming man.
Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?
I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear.
This man said "it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
Ah! A jumped-up pantry boy who never knew his place.
He said "return the ring."
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear.
Tthis man said "it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
La, la-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man.
La-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man.
Ah! A jumped-up pantry boy who never knew his place.
He said "return the ring."
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
When in this charming car. this charming man.
Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?
I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear.
This man said "it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
Ah! A jumped-up pantry boy who never knew his place.
He said "return the ring."
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear.
Tthis man said "it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
La, la-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man.
La-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man.
Ah! A jumped-up pantry boy who never knew his place.
He said "return the ring."
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
He knows so much about these things.
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Fast Car
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yeah I realized my dumb mistake after a bit of research. I now have 4 different versions of this song, but the Braid one is still better. I mean, even better than the Smiths version, even though I like them a whole lot now too