"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 bring to mind the sound of everything
played at the same time
And while this orchestra escapes
I remain stuck, paralysed and still
We moved from house to house
in the vain hope that a different location brings
a new perspective or a spark to our life
But it’s all insignificant change
I am a host to something unkind
It speaks with my voice
and it thinks with my mind
It’s wearing me out as it wrestles inside
Talk to me calmly, untangle this vine
You thought that ghost had left you
when you were young
but you couldn’t shake it off
It’s six years on and it still follows you around
And it feeds off insignificant change
I am a host to something unkind
It speaks with my voice
and it thinks with my mind
It’s wearing me out as it wrestles inside
Talk to me calmly, untangle this vine
CLAWS ARE SUNK INTO YOUR BACK
THEY FOUND YOU WHEN DISORDER STRUCK
It feels like one of those days
when your head behaves in a different way
to how your body dictates
You are caught in a state, caught in a state
Your foundations started to shake
You were listing the mistakes you’ve made
You struggle under the strain
of the weight you create, weight you create
CLAWS ARE SUNK INTO YOUR BACK
THEY FOUND YOU WHEN DISORDER STRUCK
You bring to mind the sound of everything
played at the same time
played at the same time
And while this orchestra escapes
I remain stuck, paralysed and still
We moved from house to house
in the vain hope that a different location brings
a new perspective or a spark to our life
But it’s all insignificant change
I am a host to something unkind
It speaks with my voice
and it thinks with my mind
It’s wearing me out as it wrestles inside
Talk to me calmly, untangle this vine
You thought that ghost had left you
when you were young
but you couldn’t shake it off
It’s six years on and it still follows you around
And it feeds off insignificant change
I am a host to something unkind
It speaks with my voice
and it thinks with my mind
It’s wearing me out as it wrestles inside
Talk to me calmly, untangle this vine
CLAWS ARE SUNK INTO YOUR BACK
THEY FOUND YOU WHEN DISORDER STRUCK
It feels like one of those days
when your head behaves in a different way
to how your body dictates
You are caught in a state, caught in a state
Your foundations started to shake
You were listing the mistakes you’ve made
You struggle under the strain
of the weight you create, weight you create
CLAWS ARE SUNK INTO YOUR BACK
THEY FOUND YOU WHEN DISORDER STRUCK
You bring to mind the sound of everything
played at the same time
Lyrics submitted by Loremipsum
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Page
Ed Sheeran
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