"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.
The golden eyed creature sits back on his throne
Gazing at us in despair
Six hundred guests, humanity's best
Are wondering why they are there
All roads lead here, all roads are burned
Have we digested the things we have learned
Have we a chance when the dead rise and dance
Have we the time for the final romance
We better find out the name of the game
Chance of a future frozen and grim
Or of a quick death brought here on a whim
Why are we here does anyone know
Why are we here at the terminal show
The blind king has secrets dark and morose
He'd like it if we were like him
All the dark days spent in the maze
Have made a new man of him
All roads lead here, all roads are closed
Are we quite certain of all that we know
Are we miscast or do we hold fast
Have we the time for the final repast
We better find out
The name of the game
Chance of a new world sunny and fine
Or of a burning a branded design
Why are we here, we don't even know
Why are we here at the terminal show
The red queen is sleeping, lost in a dream
She wakes and she sleeps all alone
All of her fears are crowded in here
Laughing they pick at her bones
All roads lead here, none lead away
Are we quire certain we're here anyway
Have we been wise or are we despised
Have we the time for our final demise
We better find out
The name of the game
Chance of a lost world, rain and dismay
Pick up your belongings, we all have to pay
Why are the vultures circling above
Why can't we fight for the right to our blood
We are demented, everyone knows
Misrepresented, coming to blows
Why are we here, we don't even know
Why are we here at the terminal show
Gazing at us in despair
Six hundred guests, humanity's best
Are wondering why they are there
All roads lead here, all roads are burned
Have we digested the things we have learned
Have we a chance when the dead rise and dance
Have we the time for the final romance
We better find out the name of the game
Chance of a future frozen and grim
Or of a quick death brought here on a whim
Why are we here does anyone know
Why are we here at the terminal show
The blind king has secrets dark and morose
He'd like it if we were like him
All the dark days spent in the maze
Have made a new man of him
All roads lead here, all roads are closed
Are we quite certain of all that we know
Are we miscast or do we hold fast
Have we the time for the final repast
We better find out
The name of the game
Chance of a new world sunny and fine
Or of a burning a branded design
Why are we here, we don't even know
Why are we here at the terminal show
The red queen is sleeping, lost in a dream
She wakes and she sleeps all alone
All of her fears are crowded in here
Laughing they pick at her bones
All roads lead here, none lead away
Are we quire certain we're here anyway
Have we been wise or are we despised
Have we the time for our final demise
We better find out
The name of the game
Chance of a lost world, rain and dismay
Pick up your belongings, we all have to pay
Why are the vultures circling above
Why can't we fight for the right to our blood
We are demented, everyone knows
Misrepresented, coming to blows
Why are we here, we don't even know
Why are we here at the terminal show
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Fast Car
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No comments on this song? Really? This is my favorite Motörhead song!
Well, here goes: This sounds to me like a new take on Dante's 'Inferno'. The "golden-eyed creature" could be Minos, who was essentially the prevailing judge, sentencing all the denizens of Hell to their respective ring of Hell. Some of the characters don't appear in the 'Inferno,' such as The "Red Queen". The closest reference to her I could find was Lewis Carol's "Through the Looking Glass". I'm not sure about the 'blind king,' but he certainly sounds Hellish. I almost want to draw a comparison between the Blind King and the Yellow King (whose name should never be mentioned aloud) from H.P. Lovecraft's mythos.