"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.
C) And I went down to a nigger crap game,
'Twas (F) certainly against my (C) will.
I lost every doggone nickel I had
But a (G) greenback dollar bill.
(C) Forty dollar that laid on the floor
the nigger's 's point was (C) nine
Well, the (F) police they come in there
And (Am) caught all of 'em
But (C) I (G) got (C) mine.
I got mine, let me tell ya
(F) I got (C) mine.
I grabbed that money
Out the back door (G) I went flying
Well, (C) ever since the big crap game
I've been (F) livin' on chicken and (C) wine.
I'm the (F) leader of so (Am) ciety
Since (C) I (G) got (C) mine.
I know a barber shop
It's a way cross town
Down on Norfolk street
It's the only place on a Saturday night
That us gamblers gets to meet
Some comes for a haircut
And others come for a scrap
And when you see me and my buddies up there, man
We means to shoot some crap
Hollering: "Seven, eleven, won't you come, come, come!!!
If you don't seven, eleven them
You're done, done, done"
If I see the police before he sees me
I'm gonna run, run, run
I'm the leader of society
Since I got mine
Well, I went down to my best girl's house
The hour was just about nine
I wasn't dressed up like Henry Ford
But I was feeling just as fine
I caught her sitting on another man's knee
And I didn't like that sign
Well, I told them what I thought about it, boys
And I got mine
I got mine, I got mine
I grabbed my hat and through the window
I went flying
I ran as fast as I could run
But I didn't get there in time
Because the rascal grabbed a shotgun, Lord
And I got mine
'Twas (F) certainly against my (C) will.
I lost every doggone nickel I had
But a (G) greenback dollar bill.
(C) Forty dollar that laid on the floor
the nigger's 's point was (C) nine
Well, the (F) police they come in there
And (Am) caught all of 'em
But (C) I (G) got (C) mine.
I got mine, let me tell ya
(F) I got (C) mine.
I grabbed that money
Out the back door (G) I went flying
Well, (C) ever since the big crap game
I've been (F) livin' on chicken and (C) wine.
I'm the (F) leader of so (Am) ciety
Since (C) I (G) got (C) mine.
I know a barber shop
It's a way cross town
Down on Norfolk street
It's the only place on a Saturday night
That us gamblers gets to meet
Some comes for a haircut
And others come for a scrap
And when you see me and my buddies up there, man
We means to shoot some crap
Hollering: "Seven, eleven, won't you come, come, come!!!
If you don't seven, eleven them
You're done, done, done"
If I see the police before he sees me
I'm gonna run, run, run
I'm the leader of society
Since I got mine
Well, I went down to my best girl's house
The hour was just about nine
I wasn't dressed up like Henry Ford
But I was feeling just as fine
I caught her sitting on another man's knee
And I didn't like that sign
Well, I told them what I thought about it, boys
And I got mine
I got mine, I got mine
I grabbed my hat and through the window
I went flying
I ran as fast as I could run
But I didn't get there in time
Because the rascal grabbed a shotgun, Lord
And I got mine
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
I Got Mine Lyrics as written by Steve Marriott Ronald Lane
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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