"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.
It's 4 am and I'm wide awake
Waiting for the thoughts to fade
I flick a ring of all of my mistakes
And as the light starts creeping in
I slowly feel
The day missing
But I wont even know where to begin
Do I push too hard
I fall too fast
A moment never seems to last
And will I stop long enough to know
Cos everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt
I cry
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away, this time
Your words circle in my head
And weigh so heavy on my chest
And I'm crushed by your expectation
I only want to do some good
To dumb to know if I could
And I just wanna feel the days I'm in
And do I go too far
Not far enough
Why cant I keep my big mouth shut and do
And lead the life that we should
And everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt I cry
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away, this time
Did I say too much again?
I'm just a girl in a panic
If I tell you my truth
Am I getting through?
And it just seems I should confess
Who am I to pretend?
This is more than I can carry
Cause everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt
I cry
I hold my head up high
I know ill be alright, this time
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away this time
This time
This time
This time
This time
Its 4 am and I'm wide awake
Waiting for my thoughts to fade
And its time like these I see your face
Waiting for the thoughts to fade
I flick a ring of all of my mistakes
And as the light starts creeping in
I slowly feel
The day missing
But I wont even know where to begin
Do I push too hard
I fall too fast
A moment never seems to last
And will I stop long enough to know
Cos everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt
I cry
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away, this time
Your words circle in my head
And weigh so heavy on my chest
And I'm crushed by your expectation
I only want to do some good
To dumb to know if I could
And I just wanna feel the days I'm in
And do I go too far
Not far enough
Why cant I keep my big mouth shut and do
And lead the life that we should
And everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt I cry
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away, this time
Did I say too much again?
I'm just a girl in a panic
If I tell you my truth
Am I getting through?
And it just seems I should confess
Who am I to pretend?
This is more than I can carry
Cause everybody burns
And when it starts to hurt
I cry
I hold my head up high
I know ill be alright, this time
I feel it in my veins
I just cant walk away this time
This time
This time
This time
This time
Its 4 am and I'm wide awake
Waiting for my thoughts to fade
And its time like these I see your face
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Erm. Well, yes I think it is about love. But because of my life, I could use my example for what it -could- be about on a deeper level, and what it means to me personally.
She loves him and wants to be with him, but he pushes her away. The only way she can have him as part of her life is as just a friend, but she is so wrapped up in the idea of them being more then that, of them being romantically involved, that it's a stressor. A regular crush song doesn't have such a solemn tone.
Your words circle in my head Weigh so heavy on my chest And I'm crushed by your expectation I only want to do some good Too dumb to know if I could And I just wanna feel the days I'm in
Those lines really hit it. The things he tells her make her feel helpless.. and the chorus, about 'everybody burns, when it starts to hurt, I cry" is about the pain of the dilemma of loving someone and feeling like you can't do anything.
Well, that's just what it is for me. :)