"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 days. Golden. Covering the bases.
Back when we used to punch each other in the faces.
Under my skin. Try on the ions.
See how it feels. Let bygones be bygones.
Path of the obscure. Script of the well known.
That’s when we didn’t know shit from the elbow.
Underground meant something. Low-watt apocalypse.
Cats stuck in trees. Robots and rocket ships.
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Hooks for hands. Trash in a can.
Cash and a plan. Flash in the pan.
Baseball, baseball - making the catches.
Tearing the roof off. Playing with matches.
Bumped and bruised. Dumped by the girlfriend.
Satan and Santa Claus. Waiting for the world’s end.
Dancing in the bathroom. Suffering and hatred.
Cutting the trees down like nothing is sacred.
Struck by lighting. brand new exciting dance.
Writing grants. We might have had a fighting chance.
Words like weapons that dealt a crushing blow
Under the stars on the edge of touch and go.
Boogeymen, dirty books, fingers crossed, just in case.
Sadly mistaken. Trying to make it to second base.
Men drew lines, young boys drew knives.
Heavy study. Everybody had two lives.
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Dry heaves. It’s over so why grieve?
Out to lunch. Used to be so naïve.
Odd jobs. We bought stories and sold bottles
Living in the world of superheroes and role models.
Big deals, outer limits and fringes.
Stop and start. Throwing shopping carts off bridges.
Men of the rodeo and women of burlesque.
Epic battles and apples on the teachers desk.
Crying wolves awaken in a cave.
Weakness. Secrets taken to the grave.
The bigger the better. Unfair and so drastic.
Things made of wood, long days and no plastic.
Floozies weighed a ton. Forty-fifths, thirty-thirds.
Limits untested, first kisses and dirty words.
Devil’s in the details. God saw everybody.
Bad joke like, ‘haha very funny’...
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Back when we used to punch each other in the faces.
Under my skin. Try on the ions.
See how it feels. Let bygones be bygones.
Path of the obscure. Script of the well known.
That’s when we didn’t know shit from the elbow.
Underground meant something. Low-watt apocalypse.
Cats stuck in trees. Robots and rocket ships.
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Hooks for hands. Trash in a can.
Cash and a plan. Flash in the pan.
Baseball, baseball - making the catches.
Tearing the roof off. Playing with matches.
Bumped and bruised. Dumped by the girlfriend.
Satan and Santa Claus. Waiting for the world’s end.
Dancing in the bathroom. Suffering and hatred.
Cutting the trees down like nothing is sacred.
Struck by lighting. brand new exciting dance.
Writing grants. We might have had a fighting chance.
Words like weapons that dealt a crushing blow
Under the stars on the edge of touch and go.
Boogeymen, dirty books, fingers crossed, just in case.
Sadly mistaken. Trying to make it to second base.
Men drew lines, young boys drew knives.
Heavy study. Everybody had two lives.
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Dry heaves. It’s over so why grieve?
Out to lunch. Used to be so naïve.
Odd jobs. We bought stories and sold bottles
Living in the world of superheroes and role models.
Big deals, outer limits and fringes.
Stop and start. Throwing shopping carts off bridges.
Men of the rodeo and women of burlesque.
Epic battles and apples on the teachers desk.
Crying wolves awaken in a cave.
Weakness. Secrets taken to the grave.
The bigger the better. Unfair and so drastic.
Things made of wood, long days and no plastic.
Floozies weighed a ton. Forty-fifths, thirty-thirds.
Limits untested, first kisses and dirty words.
Devil’s in the details. God saw everybody.
Bad joke like, ‘haha very funny’...
Way back when... Solid gold! That song on the radio is nice! x 4
Lyrics submitted by Anarchitect
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