"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.
This is a song with the same four chords I use most of the time
When I've got something on my mind
And I don't want to squander the moment
Trying to come up with a better way to say what I want to say
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
It's good to be young, but let's not kid ourselves
It's better to pass on through those years and come out the other side
With our hearts still beating
Having stared down demons and
Come back breathing
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
You deserved better than you got
Someone's got to say it sometime 'cause it's true
People should have told you you were awesome
Instead of taking advantage of you
I hope you love your life now
Like I love mine
I hope the painful memories only flex their power over you
A little of the time
We held on to hope of better days coming
And when we did we were right
I hope the people who did you wrong
Have trouble sleeping at night
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
When I've got something on my mind
And I don't want to squander the moment
Trying to come up with a better way to say what I want to say
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
It's good to be young, but let's not kid ourselves
It's better to pass on through those years and come out the other side
With our hearts still beating
Having stared down demons and
Come back breathing
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
You deserved better than you got
Someone's got to say it sometime 'cause it's true
People should have told you you were awesome
Instead of taking advantage of you
I hope you love your life now
Like I love mine
I hope the painful memories only flex their power over you
A little of the time
We held on to hope of better days coming
And when we did we were right
I hope the people who did you wrong
Have trouble sleeping at night
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
Lyrics submitted by Zopilote Steel, edited by ailments
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Absolutely what I thought, Eccentricity.