"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.
Should I be sad I'm not sad?
Can I be lonely I don't know me?
Cars drone by, is this wandering?
The weather spits and then it shines
You've got no opinion, stay safe on your horizon
Where to, where's everyone going so quiet now
I thought, as I left this house
Maybe it's that lady screaming down street
She's been looking for herself all week
When a cop shows up holding a beautiful birthday cake
Sings his song so perfectly then apologizes for the way he speaks
Oh, that's not right, that can't be right, that isn't right?
I thought, and I thought and I thought
Maybe it's the air, the light, the sun and quiet, you should finally try it
Where two old friends finish dinner and then pretend to kiss
When she admits, "I think I'm good, I think," puts two cigarettes to her lip
He says, "I'm okay but I can't stay unless we confess everything else."
It's nearly sunny could be any big day of beauty, I thought
I thought, and thought as I left this house, I'm leaving now
Can I be lonely I don't know me?
Cars drone by, is this wandering?
The weather spits and then it shines
You've got no opinion, stay safe on your horizon
Where to, where's everyone going so quiet now
I thought, as I left this house
Maybe it's that lady screaming down street
She's been looking for herself all week
When a cop shows up holding a beautiful birthday cake
Sings his song so perfectly then apologizes for the way he speaks
Oh, that's not right, that can't be right, that isn't right?
I thought, and I thought and I thought
Maybe it's the air, the light, the sun and quiet, you should finally try it
Where two old friends finish dinner and then pretend to kiss
When she admits, "I think I'm good, I think," puts two cigarettes to her lip
He says, "I'm okay but I can't stay unless we confess everything else."
It's nearly sunny could be any big day of beauty, I thought
I thought, and thought as I left this house, I'm leaving now
Lyrics submitted by BleedorBreathe
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