"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.
Would it be easier, so much easier
If you never knew us
Would you ever fear anymore
If you never knew us
Would we meet on a fatal shore, on a fatal shore?
When are you coming to shore
To never fear anymore
You never know any doubt, know any doubt
Like we who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
Oh, no
Are you a breather?
Mail receiver?
If you could see right through us
Through our clothes and through our pores
If you could see right through us
You're gonna run into your homes and lock your doors
Ah, la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la
When are you coming to shore, coming to shore, coming to shore
To never fear anymore, fear anymore, fear anymore
You never know any doubt, know any doubt, know any doubt
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out, breathe in and out
Oh, sure
Oh, sure
If you never knew us
Would you ever fear anymore
If you never knew us
Would we meet on a fatal shore, on a fatal shore?
When are you coming to shore
To never fear anymore
You never know any doubt, know any doubt
Like we who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
Oh, no
Are you a breather?
Mail receiver?
If you could see right through us
Through our clothes and through our pores
If you could see right through us
You're gonna run into your homes and lock your doors
Ah, la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la, la-la-la
When are you coming to shore, coming to shore, coming to shore
To never fear anymore, fear anymore, fear anymore
You never know any doubt, know any doubt, know any doubt
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out
We who breathe in and out, breathe in and out, breathe in and out
Oh, sure
Oh, sure
Lyrics submitted by Cyberghost, edited by smallwonderrobot
Fatal Shore Lyrics as written by Andrew Wegman Bird
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Robert Hughes referred to Australia as the 'Fatal Shore' in his history of British penal colonies and the practice of sending criminals there, essentially to either die, or to survive on their own strength against the wilderness.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fatal_Shore
"If you could see right through us You're gonna run into your homes and lock your doors"
This suggests that the speaker in the song is viewed as a criminal, or would be viewed as one if other people knew them well.
The same with these lines:
"Would you ever fear anymore If you never knew us?"
The main thrust seems to be that in the current environment, the speaker would be viewed harshly by the person they're addressing, but if they were to meet under other conditions, "on a fatal shore" - somewhere completely new and wild and free from all of the context, they might be free from their preconceived apprehensions and fear:
"Would we meet on a fatal shore? On a fatal shore? When are you comin' to shore To never fear anymore?"