"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.
I am in one of those dreams
Where you just keep on falling
Noone hears you calling
All that you saw was my smile
But it's been dark for awhile
And the days have gone cold
No more sleep for my soul
Well thats what I've been told
Did you think that things would be ok?
That my life could keep going on this way?
When I cried, when I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come no one could tell?
Say why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
One day I found the creature asleep
I had a secret to keep
And now the whole world knows
I'm fighting now go
And I'll be on show
I'm protected did you know
From the folks in the blue
Did you think that things would be ok?
That my life could keep going on this way?
When I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
I said why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
Invader took the breath from me
Healer, the angel did I see
All that you saw was my smile
But it's been dark for a while
And the days have gone cold
When I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
I said why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
And then I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
Say why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
Invader took the breath from me
Healer, the angel did I see
Invader took my breath away
Healer, the angel did I see
It's not too far to go now
Like a train off the rails here
'Cause nobody listened.
Nobody listened (nobody listened)
But they're listening now...
Where you just keep on falling
Noone hears you calling
All that you saw was my smile
But it's been dark for awhile
And the days have gone cold
No more sleep for my soul
Well thats what I've been told
Did you think that things would be ok?
That my life could keep going on this way?
When I cried, when I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come no one could tell?
Say why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
One day I found the creature asleep
I had a secret to keep
And now the whole world knows
I'm fighting now go
And I'll be on show
I'm protected did you know
From the folks in the blue
Did you think that things would be ok?
That my life could keep going on this way?
When I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
I said why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
Invader took the breath from me
Healer, the angel did I see
All that you saw was my smile
But it's been dark for a while
And the days have gone cold
When I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
I said why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
And then I cried and I shouted and I screamed and I yelled
And I was mad and I was angry
How come noone could tell?
Say why didn't you listen to me?
Was it really that hard to see?
Nobody listened
Nobody listened
Invader took the breath from me
Healer, the angel did I see
Invader took my breath away
Healer, the angel did I see
It's not too far to go now
Like a train off the rails here
'Cause nobody listened.
Nobody listened (nobody listened)
But they're listening now...
Lyrics submitted by Amanda Hug n Kiss
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I think this song was about how Nobody Listened to Delta, how the press where saying it was just some stupid publicity stunt. I love it though, it really makes me feel better after listening to it. It showcases the darker side of Delta - all her other songs were 'full of dreams' - then after her cancer it was 'her big dose of reality.
But they're listening now
I love that bit at the end.