"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.
The sound of grinding gears awakes me once again
My circuits charged, I come alive
Without a thought, I fall in line
I swore I’d end my days in this old factory
I never dreamt of anything
Until his love infiltrated me
The owner’s son he was indeed most certainly
The one who influenced my change and
Upon his voice it carried me
Into the depths of truth I found a wakening
A flesh began to grow and then
No more electricity
My circuits charged, I come alive
Without a thought, I fall in line
I swore I’d end my days in this old factory
I never dreamt of anything
Until his love infiltrated me
The owner’s son he was indeed most certainly
The one who influenced my change and
Upon his voice it carried me
Into the depths of truth I found a wakening
A flesh began to grow and then
No more electricity
Lyrics submitted by MarieEP
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