"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.
You just gotta walk on both sides of the line
You've thrilled at the thought of each stranger's arms you find
Everything that's yours to hold just can't satisfy your mind
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
If you had me in a mansion filled with gold
If I lay at your feet my heart and my soul
You'd still crave the grapes on your next door neighbor's vine
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
You just gotta walk...
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
You've thrilled at the thought of each stranger's arms you find
Everything that's yours to hold just can't satisfy your mind
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
If you had me in a mansion filled with gold
If I lay at your feet my heart and my soul
You'd still crave the grapes on your next door neighbor's vine
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
You just gotta walk...
'Cause you just gotta walk on both sides of the line
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Both Sides of the Line Lyrics as written by Francis
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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