"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.
We came to an agreement in good health
That if no-one would take care of us
We'd be fine by ourselves
It was time to fight abuse
Of those who don't deserve our spit
Why is it that we crave the praise
From the people who least deserve it
If you gave us a flower
We could sit and we'd water it
But instead we watch you weave your webs
And you wait for us to fly into it
You act like you're a strong ant
We all act like we're weak
If only you'd quit trying to cripple
Our dancing feet
Bad kids, bad kids
Slip through your hands like liquid
Bad kids, bad kids
Vanish when you shut your eyelids
They'll vanish when you shut your eyelids
Thinking of it is painful
It's better to accept it all
Thinking of all the mothers and the daughters
And the fathers and the sons
Who are waiting for a call
That says I didn't mean it
I love you for who you are
Whether you made it in this sick industry or not
You'll always be our special star
He said, if I became a pretty flower
Would you sit and talk to me?
Oh my roots, my roots are getting old
And I'm getting, I'm getting, I'm getting, lonely, lonely
I'll play Superman, I'll make you feel safe
So why are you disappointed?
Everything that I did for you means nothing
Coz you've turned out to be wicked
Bad kids, bad kids
Vanish when you shut your eyelids
Bad kids, bad kids
Slip off your skin like liquid
Yeah, they slip off your skin like liquid
I'm a tangled ball of string
I'm a criminal, you're the victim
I am a cat and you are the mouse
And I am the milkmaid that killed all the cows
Am I the oil that stained the see?
Am I the storm that sunk the ship?
You are the horse on my cart
But it's you, but it's you, but it's you
It's not me, it's not me, it's not me
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
ah-ah-ah
That if no-one would take care of us
We'd be fine by ourselves
It was time to fight abuse
Of those who don't deserve our spit
Why is it that we crave the praise
From the people who least deserve it
If you gave us a flower
We could sit and we'd water it
But instead we watch you weave your webs
And you wait for us to fly into it
You act like you're a strong ant
We all act like we're weak
If only you'd quit trying to cripple
Our dancing feet
Bad kids, bad kids
Slip through your hands like liquid
Bad kids, bad kids
Vanish when you shut your eyelids
They'll vanish when you shut your eyelids
Thinking of it is painful
It's better to accept it all
Thinking of all the mothers and the daughters
And the fathers and the sons
Who are waiting for a call
That says I didn't mean it
I love you for who you are
Whether you made it in this sick industry or not
You'll always be our special star
He said, if I became a pretty flower
Would you sit and talk to me?
Oh my roots, my roots are getting old
And I'm getting, I'm getting, I'm getting, lonely, lonely
I'll play Superman, I'll make you feel safe
So why are you disappointed?
Everything that I did for you means nothing
Coz you've turned out to be wicked
Bad kids, bad kids
Vanish when you shut your eyelids
Bad kids, bad kids
Slip off your skin like liquid
Yeah, they slip off your skin like liquid
I'm a tangled ball of string
I'm a criminal, you're the victim
I am a cat and you are the mouse
And I am the milkmaid that killed all the cows
Am I the oil that stained the see?
Am I the storm that sunk the ship?
You are the horse on my cart
But it's you, but it's you, but it's you
It's not me, it's not me, it's not me
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
That broke your heart
ah-ah-ah
Lyrics submitted by jo_taylor_joe, edited by DerpyPuppy
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