"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.
If beauty is an inspiration
Then I hold you accountable
For all the things that make my world turn
And everything that makes my glass half full
I wonder why you sleep all alone
Every goddamn night
When I could be the one
By your side and hold you tight
Don't be so proud, you must give into your heart
This is how it's supposed to be but you doubted it from the start
So don't hold it back, it's the only thing I ask of you
Your magnificence motivates everything that I do
The suspense of life
Seems to be killing me
And I would do anything to
Be able to sing your song in key
Am I missing something
Or is something missing me
What does it take for someone to be
Truly happy
Time moves so slow
In this place
The only thing that keeps me going
Is the smile that sits upon your face
I really need to get
Myself on out of here
But I could not leave without you
You make all my problems disappear
Don't be so proud I have surrendered to your heart
This is how it was meant to be, I knew it from the start
I will not resist my urge to give it all to you
Our magnificence was right on cue
Then I hold you accountable
For all the things that make my world turn
And everything that makes my glass half full
I wonder why you sleep all alone
Every goddamn night
When I could be the one
By your side and hold you tight
Don't be so proud, you must give into your heart
This is how it's supposed to be but you doubted it from the start
So don't hold it back, it's the only thing I ask of you
Your magnificence motivates everything that I do
The suspense of life
Seems to be killing me
And I would do anything to
Be able to sing your song in key
Am I missing something
Or is something missing me
What does it take for someone to be
Truly happy
Time moves so slow
In this place
The only thing that keeps me going
Is the smile that sits upon your face
I really need to get
Myself on out of here
But I could not leave without you
You make all my problems disappear
Don't be so proud I have surrendered to your heart
This is how it was meant to be, I knew it from the start
I will not resist my urge to give it all to you
Our magnificence was right on cue
Lyrics submitted by faversham
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Fast Car
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