"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.
Every buster in Rome is staring at me
I wanna stop hurting their ears but
I’m afraid of what silence could bring
I got a head full of melodies
I got sounds coming out of my mouth
But none of these melodies I can call mine
And I can’t sing aloud
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on singing
The melodies I have in my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
Cause it feels so unreal
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
And I hate days like these cause they
Make me feel like I can’t write a thing
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on crying and laughing
I think I’m just losing my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
I know good song is heaven sent
I write it down and my passion spent
But my heart’s falls apart
And piano’s rent
I see my future in a tent…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sound like it’s
Not mine at all…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And I sound like Regina Spektor at times
But it sure doesn’t sound like it is mine…
And if you feel like that
Didn’t you want to hide away
Not that I feel the same way
Not that I feel the same way too
I wanna stop hurting their ears but
I’m afraid of what silence could bring
I got a head full of melodies
I got sounds coming out of my mouth
But none of these melodies I can call mine
And I can’t sing aloud
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on singing
The melodies I have in my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
Cause it feels so unreal
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
And I hate days like these cause they
Make me feel like I can’t write a thing
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on crying and laughing
I think I’m just losing my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
I know good song is heaven sent
I write it down and my passion spent
But my heart’s falls apart
And piano’s rent
I see my future in a tent…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sound like it’s
Not mine at all…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And I sound like Regina Spektor at times
But it sure doesn’t sound like it is mine…
And if you feel like that
Didn’t you want to hide away
Not that I feel the same way
Not that I feel the same way too
Lyrics submitted by americanatropicana
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Fast Car
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I haven't listened to this song in a while, but I think it says "in the room," not "in Rome," and "in some heated place" should be "in some hidden place."
Yes, you're right. I love this song.