"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.
we traced our steps back
to the lake behind your house
and the wind caught your blouse
and I laughed and laughed at you
(oh, and the sky was blue, yeah baby
the sky was blue
and so were you, yeah girl
that’s nothing new
the sky was blue and so were you)
when the seasons turned the leaves
into a fire in the trees
i could feel you
brun into me, burn into me
we left home
to see if
we could make it on our own
and found out
our hearts' grip
leaked through a thousand tiny holes
it just keeps spilling on the pavement
but i'll track down your bloody footprints
to find out where all of that love went...
you fall away
as if to say
you're gone
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
we ran so fast that our
feet just trashed the grass
and earthworms burned
as love was spurned
(but the sky was blue, yeah baby
the sky was blue
and so were you, yeah girl
that’s nothing new
the sky was blue and so were you)
for a moment i watched you breathe
out a cloud until it seemed
like the earth was
small enough to see, small enough to see
so when did
we grow up
and out of all those dizzy plans?
I thought that
we left to
just make do with what we had
our dreams just laid there on the pavement
soaked in blood and looking spent
like they're wondering where all the time went...
you fall away
as if to say
you're gone
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
remember when the water was so much warmer on the east coast?
remember when the water was so much warmer on the east coast?
so make a promise that you'll never feel young again
(it's only fair honey if we're getting even)
so make a promise that you'll never walk the coast again
(you said the water was warm but not enough to go in)
so make a promise that it didn't mean anything
(i love the way those lies sound coming through your teeth)
so make a promise that you'll never have the time to keep
because you can't keep me, no you can't keep me
we left home
to see if
we could make it on our own
and found out
our hearts' grip
leaked through a thousand tiny holes
it just keeps spilling on the pavement
but i'll track down your bloody footprints
to find out where all of that love went...
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
to the lake behind your house
and the wind caught your blouse
and I laughed and laughed at you
(oh, and the sky was blue, yeah baby
the sky was blue
and so were you, yeah girl
that’s nothing new
the sky was blue and so were you)
when the seasons turned the leaves
into a fire in the trees
i could feel you
brun into me, burn into me
we left home
to see if
we could make it on our own
and found out
our hearts' grip
leaked through a thousand tiny holes
it just keeps spilling on the pavement
but i'll track down your bloody footprints
to find out where all of that love went...
you fall away
as if to say
you're gone
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
we ran so fast that our
feet just trashed the grass
and earthworms burned
as love was spurned
(but the sky was blue, yeah baby
the sky was blue
and so were you, yeah girl
that’s nothing new
the sky was blue and so were you)
for a moment i watched you breathe
out a cloud until it seemed
like the earth was
small enough to see, small enough to see
so when did
we grow up
and out of all those dizzy plans?
I thought that
we left to
just make do with what we had
our dreams just laid there on the pavement
soaked in blood and looking spent
like they're wondering where all the time went...
you fall away
as if to say
you're gone
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
remember when the water was so much warmer on the east coast?
remember when the water was so much warmer on the east coast?
so make a promise that you'll never feel young again
(it's only fair honey if we're getting even)
so make a promise that you'll never walk the coast again
(you said the water was warm but not enough to go in)
so make a promise that it didn't mean anything
(i love the way those lies sound coming through your teeth)
so make a promise that you'll never have the time to keep
because you can't keep me, no you can't keep me
we left home
to see if
we could make it on our own
and found out
our hearts' grip
leaked through a thousand tiny holes
it just keeps spilling on the pavement
but i'll track down your bloody footprints
to find out where all of that love went...
you fall away
enough to say
you're gone
Lyrics submitted by ffa
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