"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.
As you go through life you'll see
There is so much that we
Don't understand
And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we planned
When it seems all your dreams come undone
We are more than we are
We are one
If there's so much I must be
Can I still just be me
The way I am?
Can I trust in my own heart
Or am I just one part
Of some big plan?
Your journey has only begun
Is our pride, deep inside
We are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
One family under the sun
You will find when you see
We are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
There is so much that we
Don't understand
And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we planned
When it seems all your dreams come undone
We are more than we are
We are one
If there's so much I must be
Can I still just be me
The way I am?
Can I trust in my own heart
Or am I just one part
Of some big plan?
Your journey has only begun
Is our pride, deep inside
We are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
One family under the sun
You will find when you see
We are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
Family, family, we are one
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this song makes me cry because when my mom left my dad and took me i had the tape and was listening to it in the car and she repeated the line "things dont always go the way we planned"so it makes me sad =[