"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.
Innocence it don't come easy, in a sense it never will
Accidents mean no one's guilty, ignorance means someone's killed
So I asked our Mr. Mellow how to get to where one's going
And he points to his survival, and he points me down the road
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
On a dark wet night in April on a street in Jersey where
I went looking for some writing that I knew would not be there
And a punter from the Pelhams and the police in the rain,
Were concerned more with a car than with the fact the light had changed
But after listening all morning as I drove down 95
To a story of detaniees who were barely kept alive
I could deal with trying to process pigeons acting like they're doves
But not with interference from the powerlines above
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
And oh precautions, yes precaution
But if you're playing with a gun, well you could kill someone
And in the dark it's hard to know a friend
But I'm not angry, I won't be forever angry
As I'm walking toward tomorrow with a rifle in my hand
And I'm thinking 'bout New England and I'm missing old Japan
And a mountain in California where a spring runs hot and cold
And if I told you I felt ageless, would you tell me I'm not old
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
On and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
Accidents mean no one's guilty, ignorance means someone's killed
So I asked our Mr. Mellow how to get to where one's going
And he points to his survival, and he points me down the road
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
On a dark wet night in April on a street in Jersey where
I went looking for some writing that I knew would not be there
And a punter from the Pelhams and the police in the rain,
Were concerned more with a car than with the fact the light had changed
But after listening all morning as I drove down 95
To a story of detaniees who were barely kept alive
I could deal with trying to process pigeons acting like they're doves
But not with interference from the powerlines above
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
And oh precautions, yes precaution
But if you're playing with a gun, well you could kill someone
And in the dark it's hard to know a friend
But I'm not angry, I won't be forever angry
As I'm walking toward tomorrow with a rifle in my hand
And I'm thinking 'bout New England and I'm missing old Japan
And a mountain in California where a spring runs hot and cold
And if I told you I felt ageless, would you tell me I'm not old
As I go on and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
On and on
Wondering if I've got a soul
Counting down the hours 'till it goes
Lyrics submitted by a scar in the sky
Counting Down The Hours Lyrics as written by Theodore F Leo
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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while i can see the political meaning behind this song, i'm kind of shocked no one noticed the religious symbolism behind the line
i could deal with trying to process pigeons acting like they're doves/but not with interference from the power lines above.
well, most people who act they are "religious" really are truly pond scum (pigeons acting like they're doves), and i know from experience (catholic school does that to you). and, if you know your christianity, it states only god can determine who is truly faithful (the power lines above). it has to be one the best use of religious symbolism i've ever heard.