"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.
Oooooa...
The hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
Everybody always coming round' talkin' bout what they
gonna do when they make a lot of money
Everybody like to get an assistant to turn the twist
twist on the bottle caps kinda funny
People come when the flash is on and the streetlights
jumping with the banging of the stereo
Getcha fix your hot under collar hustlin' them but
you got to still borrow a dollar,
Say," I'll getcha back tomorrow and we'll be kings once everybody knows".
[Chorus:]
One, Two, Three (ay)
Shake your change in your pocket
Ching Ching Ching
We're gonna make history
Revolutionary mediocrity
(It's like ay, ay ay!)
[Repeat Chorus]
Go
Everybody always in my face droppin' names talkin'
bout who they hung with at the disco
How they're gonna blow up once the shows picked up
Go to bed with their head on the cellphone
Water runs when the faucet's on
But the well runs dry when your sippin' on your ego
Dreamin' 'bout your bling bling drippin'
Everyone wants a piece cuz' you so bitchin'
Say I'll hit you back tomorrow if I forget easy come easy go
[Chorus x2]
[Bridge:]
We'll only take just what we need
It's not about the greed
It's just we've seen no other way
And you can't blame us for the right
To be famous overnight
It's just we've seen no other way
The hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot
[Chorus x3]
The hot hot hot hot hot (It's like ay..ay..ay)
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot
The hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
Everybody always coming round' talkin' bout what they
gonna do when they make a lot of money
Everybody like to get an assistant to turn the twist
twist on the bottle caps kinda funny
People come when the flash is on and the streetlights
jumping with the banging of the stereo
Getcha fix your hot under collar hustlin' them but
you got to still borrow a dollar,
Say," I'll getcha back tomorrow and we'll be kings once everybody knows".
[Chorus:]
One, Two, Three (ay)
Shake your change in your pocket
Ching Ching Ching
We're gonna make history
Revolutionary mediocrity
(It's like ay, ay ay!)
[Repeat Chorus]
Go
Everybody always in my face droppin' names talkin'
bout who they hung with at the disco
How they're gonna blow up once the shows picked up
Go to bed with their head on the cellphone
Water runs when the faucet's on
But the well runs dry when your sippin' on your ego
Dreamin' 'bout your bling bling drippin'
Everyone wants a piece cuz' you so bitchin'
Say I'll hit you back tomorrow if I forget easy come easy go
[Chorus x2]
[Bridge:]
We'll only take just what we need
It's not about the greed
It's just we've seen no other way
And you can't blame us for the right
To be famous overnight
It's just we've seen no other way
The hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot
[Chorus x3]
The hot hot hot hot hot (It's like ay..ay..ay)
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot hot
We're the hot hot hot hot
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