"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.
He had 3 whole dollars,
A worn out car
And a wife who was leaving for good
Life's made of trouble,
Worry, pain and struggle
She wrote 'good bye' in the dust on the hood
They found a map of Missouri
Lipstick on the glass
They must of left in the middle of the night
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How's it going to end?
Behind a smoke colored curtain,
The girl disappeared
They found out that the ring was a fake
A tree born crooked,
Will never grow straight
She sunk like a hammer into the lake
A long lost letter and
And old leaky boat
Promises are never meant to keep
And I want to know the same thing
I want to know
How's it going to end?
The barn leaned over,
The vultures dried their wings
The moon climbed up an empty sky
The sun sank down,
Behind the tree on the hill
There's a killer and he's coming through the rye
But maybe he's the father,
Of that lost little girl
It's hard to tell in this light
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How's it going to end?
Drag your wagon and your plow,
Over the bones of the dead
Out among the roses and the weeds
You can never go back,
And the answer is 'no'
And wishing for it only makes it bleed
Joel Tornabene,
Was broken on the wheel
Shane and Bum Mahoney on the lamb
The grain was as gold,
As Sheila's hair
All the way from Liverpool, with all we could steal
He was robbed of twenty dollars
His body found stripped
Cast into the harbour there and drowned
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
The sirens are snaking,
Their way up the hill
It's last call somewhere in the world
The reptiles blend in,
With the color of the street
Life is sweet at the edge of a razor
And down in the first row,
Of an old picture show
The old man is asleep, as the credits start to roll
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
And I just want to know the same thing
I want to know
How's it going to end?
A worn out car
And a wife who was leaving for good
Life's made of trouble,
Worry, pain and struggle
She wrote 'good bye' in the dust on the hood
They found a map of Missouri
Lipstick on the glass
They must of left in the middle of the night
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How's it going to end?
Behind a smoke colored curtain,
The girl disappeared
They found out that the ring was a fake
A tree born crooked,
Will never grow straight
She sunk like a hammer into the lake
A long lost letter and
And old leaky boat
Promises are never meant to keep
And I want to know the same thing
I want to know
How's it going to end?
The barn leaned over,
The vultures dried their wings
The moon climbed up an empty sky
The sun sank down,
Behind the tree on the hill
There's a killer and he's coming through the rye
But maybe he's the father,
Of that lost little girl
It's hard to tell in this light
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How's it going to end?
Drag your wagon and your plow,
Over the bones of the dead
Out among the roses and the weeds
You can never go back,
And the answer is 'no'
And wishing for it only makes it bleed
Joel Tornabene,
Was broken on the wheel
Shane and Bum Mahoney on the lamb
The grain was as gold,
As Sheila's hair
All the way from Liverpool, with all we could steal
He was robbed of twenty dollars
His body found stripped
Cast into the harbour there and drowned
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
The sirens are snaking,
Their way up the hill
It's last call somewhere in the world
The reptiles blend in,
With the color of the street
Life is sweet at the edge of a razor
And down in the first row,
Of an old picture show
The old man is asleep, as the credits start to roll
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How's it going to end?
And I just want to know the same thing
I want to know
How's it going to end?
Lyrics submitted by deliriumtrigger
How's It Gonna End Lyrics as written by Thomas A. Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Seeing this written down, it seems that the whole song is fragments of film plots, at least on one level; & there's the old man who's watching the films. We all want to know how the movie ends. But there's an apocalyptic tone that tells you it's not just about that - it's also posing the question of how the world is going to end &/or how each of us will die. "You can never go back, & the answer is no, & the wishing for it only makes it bleed" - genius.