"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.
he said i'd like to go back
but i can't go back
man i'd leave here tomorrow if i had any cash
cigarettes got the best of us
there's not much left of us
and there's still a little bit
we could split it up
i could walk by the park
see if anything's up
sometimes lonely is easy sometimes together's too much
there's not much left of us
the part that remains
is rotten & bruised
soft spot on the piece of fruit
you can cut off the black
feast on the rest
that's probably what we're gonna do
from what i understand
he's just some boy with a band
when i walked by the park
you were holding his hand
dropped it like it was hot to the touch
there's not much left of us
because you went with him
down to birmingham
stayed in some fancy hotel on a credit card scam
you left in a limo came back on a bus
there's not much left of us
the part that remains
is rotten & bruised
black spot on the passionfruit
you can cut off the rot
feast on the rest
there's nights i'm still in love with you
dreams they come
and they won't go away
i keep seeing the things that we don't want to say
up on the sun and down to the bone
there's not much left of us
there's not much left of us
there's not much left of us
but i can't go back
man i'd leave here tomorrow if i had any cash
cigarettes got the best of us
there's not much left of us
and there's still a little bit
we could split it up
i could walk by the park
see if anything's up
sometimes lonely is easy sometimes together's too much
there's not much left of us
the part that remains
is rotten & bruised
soft spot on the piece of fruit
you can cut off the black
feast on the rest
that's probably what we're gonna do
from what i understand
he's just some boy with a band
when i walked by the park
you were holding his hand
dropped it like it was hot to the touch
there's not much left of us
because you went with him
down to birmingham
stayed in some fancy hotel on a credit card scam
you left in a limo came back on a bus
there's not much left of us
the part that remains
is rotten & bruised
black spot on the passionfruit
you can cut off the rot
feast on the rest
there's nights i'm still in love with you
dreams they come
and they won't go away
i keep seeing the things that we don't want to say
up on the sun and down to the bone
there's not much left of us
there's not much left of us
there's not much left of us
Lyrics submitted by anonymiad
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Fast Car
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