"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.
A showman's life is a smokey bar and
The fevered chase of a tiny star
It's a hotel room and a lonely wife
From what I've seen of a showman's life
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
A boy will dream as children do
Of a great white way, 'til the dream comes true
And a phoney smile in a colored light
Is all it is to a showman's life
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
The fevered chase of a tiny star
It's a hotel room and a lonely wife
From what I've seen of a showman's life
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
A boy will dream as children do
Of a great white way, 'til the dream comes true
And a phoney smile in a colored light
Is all it is to a showman's life
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker's heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
A Showman's Life Lyrics as written by Jesse Winchester
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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