"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.
Through a dead man’s eyes the old fears arise
From the promise of hope in a false solution
Let your struggle be worth the fight
I wanna burn these bridges and forget this and
Never bare that burden I know I’ll miss
To forget what I saw for what’s left to see
Everything means nothing and the end is beginning
Can you hear it? Is it calling?
It’s the sound of a thousand warnings
Do you fear it? Is it haunting?
This time your end is coming
Can you see it? Is it blinding?
It’s the sight of the ones left dying
Do you feel it? Fallen from grace
Forever fuel the fire, the only way to begin again
But since it all means nothing from here on in
When everything is lost and still you win
And the walls of hope fall before your eyes
Because the promise of failure is no surprise
It’s burning around us says Nero from Rome
In this grip of disaster, sing your final song
You’ve been forgiven, all you wanted was to see the light
With the hope it blinded you
From the ashes of what’s left behind
From the promise of hope in a false solution
Let your struggle be worth the fight
I wanna burn these bridges and forget this and
Never bare that burden I know I’ll miss
To forget what I saw for what’s left to see
Everything means nothing and the end is beginning
Can you hear it? Is it calling?
It’s the sound of a thousand warnings
Do you fear it? Is it haunting?
This time your end is coming
Can you see it? Is it blinding?
It’s the sight of the ones left dying
Do you feel it? Fallen from grace
Forever fuel the fire, the only way to begin again
But since it all means nothing from here on in
When everything is lost and still you win
And the walls of hope fall before your eyes
Because the promise of failure is no surprise
It’s burning around us says Nero from Rome
In this grip of disaster, sing your final song
You’ve been forgiven, all you wanted was to see the light
With the hope it blinded you
From the ashes of what’s left behind
Lyrics submitted by RoseOfSharyn
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Dusty Springfield
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Ed Sheeran
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