"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.
Your face betrays your words
And those words gave way to hurt
The ground between us grows like wounds that never show
But the distance couldn't mend
'Cause the time ran out instead
The ground between us grows like wounds that never show
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
Your face reveals your pain
Seconds lost, I take the blame
The cold light cuts the night, your ashes come to life
What's left is in my hands
Will I ever understand?
The cold light cuts the night, your ashes come to life
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
What's lost
We'll never know
What's lost
We'll never know
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
And those words gave way to hurt
The ground between us grows like wounds that never show
But the distance couldn't mend
'Cause the time ran out instead
The ground between us grows like wounds that never show
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
Your face reveals your pain
Seconds lost, I take the blame
The cold light cuts the night, your ashes come to life
What's left is in my hands
Will I ever understand?
The cold light cuts the night, your ashes come to life
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
What's lost
We'll never know
What's lost
We'll never know
Of father and son
Two lives now come undone
Of father and son
Too late, now all is gone
So tonight
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
I'm scattering the ashes
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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*such