"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.
I'm all washed out by the side of the road
Broken bones Matilda left a note and a rose
Sayin', "Baby honey child, I've loved you so long
But you deserve much better than me."
So I'm just burnin' all around all the miles in the road
And I'm never goin' back and I'm never goin' home
I've been gone too long, I've been less right than wrong
I lost so much blood in the fallin' out
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all I remember, you burned it away
See, for ten long years I've been hustlin' around
Tryin' to wash the sins and the sweat from my brow
Just tryin' to find a better life for me and my own
Just some rest for these tired workin' fingers
But nobody never gonna tell you the way
You gotta figure it out boys and suffer the rain
And the fools in the night and the heat of the day
When all you ever really wanted was for someone to understand
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all I remember, you burned it away
Well, don't you take it so hard and baby, don't you cry
You cross your hard heart and you hope to die
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied all the time
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied every night
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got Monroe hips, your poisoned lips and knives
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got open wounds in a young boy's pride
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got Monroe hips, your poisoned lips and knives
Sugar and spice, everything nice
Open wounds in a young boy's pride
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all that you left me, you burned it away
Well, don't you take it so hard and baby, don't you cry
You cross your hard heart and you hope to die
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied all the time
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied every night
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
Broken bones Matilda left a note and a rose
Sayin', "Baby honey child, I've loved you so long
But you deserve much better than me."
So I'm just burnin' all around all the miles in the road
And I'm never goin' back and I'm never goin' home
I've been gone too long, I've been less right than wrong
I lost so much blood in the fallin' out
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all I remember, you burned it away
See, for ten long years I've been hustlin' around
Tryin' to wash the sins and the sweat from my brow
Just tryin' to find a better life for me and my own
Just some rest for these tired workin' fingers
But nobody never gonna tell you the way
You gotta figure it out boys and suffer the rain
And the fools in the night and the heat of the day
When all you ever really wanted was for someone to understand
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all I remember, you burned it away
Well, don't you take it so hard and baby, don't you cry
You cross your hard heart and you hope to die
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied all the time
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied every night
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got Monroe hips, your poisoned lips and knives
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got open wounds in a young boy's pride
And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got Monroe hips, your poisoned lips and knives
Sugar and spice, everything nice
Open wounds in a young boy's pride
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house
Until all I remember was burnin' away
And all that you left me, you burned it away
Well, don't you take it so hard and baby, don't you cry
You cross your hard heart and you hope to die
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied all the time
Don't you tell me no more lies, you lied every night
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
Time, time tickin' away
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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The girl's name, Matilda, is probably a reference to "Waltzing Matilda," an old Australian song about a homeless man. The reference ties into the image of him being alone and out on his own with nowhere to go back to.
Just a little foot note. Matilda is also mentioned in "I Could Have Been a Contender". It says <br /> "We used to drive all night, all over town.<br /> Go Waltzing Matilda, when Matilda came around"<br /> I agree with oftehdeepend, I'm pretty sure Brian is talking about "Waltzing Matilda" in this song.