"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.
Settle down now and sit with me
Let me tell you how this all came to be
A yellow flower with your petals to the air
And flying on paper wings that brought you here
Summer rolls on in the lazy hours
An ether dream way of hummingbirds and clouds
Midnight swims in the cool back waves
And you in my arms as it rolls away
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Born of restless night the moon as a pearl
Playing games down inside your soft warm world
Hear my voice I know that you can
You're the fire in my eyes
The sun as a man
Seasons come along and seasons go
And what they'll leave behind
I don't pretend to know
I'm afraid that all I have missed
Will loom very large when the darkness lifts
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows
I will ride by your side
Wherever you go
I won't run I won't hide
Just letting you know
Just letting you know
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Hey oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Let me tell you how this all came to be
A yellow flower with your petals to the air
And flying on paper wings that brought you here
Summer rolls on in the lazy hours
An ether dream way of hummingbirds and clouds
Midnight swims in the cool back waves
And you in my arms as it rolls away
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Born of restless night the moon as a pearl
Playing games down inside your soft warm world
Hear my voice I know that you can
You're the fire in my eyes
The sun as a man
Seasons come along and seasons go
And what they'll leave behind
I don't pretend to know
I'm afraid that all I have missed
Will loom very large when the darkness lifts
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows
I will ride by your side
Wherever you go
I won't run I won't hide
Just letting you know
Just letting you know
Little dandelion
Let your heart keep time
Now the clouds are gone
All of your tomorrows shine
Hey oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
Oh oh, oh oh
All of your tomorrows shine
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Fast Car
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Born of restless night the moon as a pearl Playing games down inside your soft warm world Hear my voice I know that you can You’re the fire in my eyes The sun as a man Seasons come along and seasons go And what they’ll leave behind I don’t pretend to know I’m afraid that all I have missed Will loom very large when the darkness lifts
I adore that part of the song, makes me think of looking for love in the wrong places, but finding something good all the same.. Darkness comes from circumstance, but the love is there and it's good.. I adore the dandelion allusion to..