"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.
Old ship, give me your hands.
Im the cape that came to crush and snag you on my sands.
Below the ocean, and from my point of view,
You were always drinking, and drunk well before noon,
And dreaming on my pillow of high tide.
But Id allow you.
Old friend, give me back my hands.
Im the crutch thats missing, and youre the crippled little lamb.
Those claws will get you; those teeth will take your life,
But you wont know whats missing.
This gift aint giving. This wolf aint worth the fight.
If you get lost,
If you get lost, you lose tonight.
Im the cape that came to crush and snag you on my sands.
Below the ocean, and from my point of view,
You were always drinking, and drunk well before noon,
And dreaming on my pillow of high tide.
But Id allow you.
Old friend, give me back my hands.
Im the crutch thats missing, and youre the crippled little lamb.
Those claws will get you; those teeth will take your life,
But you wont know whats missing.
This gift aint giving. This wolf aint worth the fight.
If you get lost,
If you get lost, you lose tonight.
Lyrics submitted by solvent_d
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Fast Car
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Great version of a great song,
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About the break-down of his previous band, Ticonderoga.