"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.
Wait a minute
I woke up in the middle of the night
I got nothing left to do
But get up and leave
I wasn't thinkin'
I needed love and I needed it fast
Too many Cuervos was confusin' my mind
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
'Cause I'm just tryin' to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Oh, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Took a minute
For you to pack and be out of the door
I tell myself I'm better off here this way
I keep on lying
I'm not sure I can handle the truth
So I pretend that's how I want it to be
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
'Cause I'm just tryin' to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Yeah
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
This isn't what I normally do
'Cause I'm just trying to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
Oh, I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
I just can't take it any more
No more
So I run every night
I woke up in the middle of the night
I got nothing left to do
But get up and leave
I wasn't thinkin'
I needed love and I needed it fast
Too many Cuervos was confusin' my mind
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
'Cause I'm just tryin' to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Oh, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Took a minute
For you to pack and be out of the door
I tell myself I'm better off here this way
I keep on lying
I'm not sure I can handle the truth
So I pretend that's how I want it to be
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
'Cause I'm just tryin' to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Yeah
Some say it's alright
This isn't something that I normally do
Try to see it from my side
This isn't what I normally do
'Cause I'm just trying to get over you
Comes down to this
I hide
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
Oh, I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
Yeah, I'm running from the heartache to come
Don't wanna miss
Or cry
So I'm running from the heartache to come
I'm running every night
I just can't take it any more
No more
So I run every night
Lyrics submitted by JrnyFan4Life
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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