"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.
Met you on a springtime day
You were mindin' you life
And I was mindin mine, too
Lady when you looked my way
I had a strange sensation
And, darlin' that's when I knew...
[Chorus:]
(That/Oh) it's sad to belong to someone else
When the right one comes along,
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else
When the right one comes along.
Oh, I wake up in the night
And I reached beside me
Hopin' you will be there
But instead I find someone
Who believe in me when I said
"I'd always care."
[Chorus]
So I lived my life in a dreamworld
For the rest of my days
Just you and me walkin' hand in hand
In a wishful memory
Oh, I guess that's all
That it would ever be.
Wish I had a time machine
I could make myself go back
Until the day I was born,
And I would live my life again
And rearrange it so that I'll be
Yours from now on.
You were mindin' you life
And I was mindin mine, too
Lady when you looked my way
I had a strange sensation
And, darlin' that's when I knew...
[Chorus:]
(That/Oh) it's sad to belong to someone else
When the right one comes along,
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else
When the right one comes along.
Oh, I wake up in the night
And I reached beside me
Hopin' you will be there
But instead I find someone
Who believe in me when I said
"I'd always care."
[Chorus]
So I lived my life in a dreamworld
For the rest of my days
Just you and me walkin' hand in hand
In a wishful memory
Oh, I guess that's all
That it would ever be.
Wish I had a time machine
I could make myself go back
Until the day I was born,
And I would live my life again
And rearrange it so that I'll be
Yours from now on.
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Fast Car
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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The meaning of this song is clearly stated. But, it is true for so many and so sadly beautiful.
Yes, and right around the time I first heard this song, I was in that exact situation. I had found my soul-mate (trite but so true) in my 15th year of marriage to another. She felt the same, but her husband had (has) a debilitating illness and she felt she needed to stay with him. Unfortunately, I did get divorced and much later re-married but not to her.
Even now, 21 long years later, we still speak and, while we both try to keep the regrets out of our voices, the longing is still there. I love my wife (which is more than she can say about her husband) and I will not hurt my wife. So, I think about her daily, and wait...
I heard this song the other day and came on the site to read the lyrics again. Your story was so lovely and heartbreaking. Are you still waiting for her?<br />