"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.
She’s sipping a cappuccino
Like a cat sipping out of a bowl
He’s black espresso
To start his heart when it gets cold
He’s thinking ‘cognac’
But afraid his hands might shake
She’s checking her make-up
Her smile’s giving nothing away
You better kill me before I kill you
You look good in black
Pay the bill and keep on walking
Get a hole in their back
Two faded tourists
Their visas have long expired
Two forgotten journalists
Whose headlines have retired
What’s that in his pocket?
They aint Chinese banknotes
What’s that in her handbag?
That’s no bar of gold.
Two suntanned lovers
Love didn’t die, it just went dry
Fading into the sunlight
Those bones of love passing by
Like a cat sipping out of a bowl
He’s black espresso
To start his heart when it gets cold
He’s thinking ‘cognac’
But afraid his hands might shake
She’s checking her make-up
Her smile’s giving nothing away
You better kill me before I kill you
You look good in black
Pay the bill and keep on walking
Get a hole in their back
Two faded tourists
Their visas have long expired
Two forgotten journalists
Whose headlines have retired
What’s that in his pocket?
They aint Chinese banknotes
What’s that in her handbag?
That’s no bar of gold.
Two suntanned lovers
Love didn’t die, it just went dry
Fading into the sunlight
Those bones of love passing by
Lyrics submitted by love.my.sins
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