"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.
“Is it raining where you are?”
The only thing I could think to ask
But nothing ever hurt so bad
As the “no” that you said back
But ain’t that the truth, man
Those are just facts
The farther you go from where you start
The harder it is to get back
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
This is for all my friends in West Virginia
The good stuff comes
The good stuff goes
The good stuff seems so hard to hold
Hope it slides slowly down your throat
So the taste of it may linger
Right now, I’m just a volcano
On the brink of eruption
Right now I’m just a psycho
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
I wish I may, I wish I might
One day live life like a person in paradise
Right now, I’m just a volcano
On the brink of eruption
Right now I’m just a psycho
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Ride or die
Brothers for life
Darkest days
Coldest nights
Ride or die
Brothers for life
Darkest days
Coldest nights
There ain’t no doctor on earth
There ain’t no lord up above
Who knows a strong enough medicine
Or a lifesaving love
Like I said, I thought I was focused
I thought I had it figured out
How to organize my words good
Before they fall right out my mouth
But I have learned that the direction
I was walking was so wrong
And I just need a little help here, man
To find the path I should be on
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
Love of my life, gone forever
Get her back, good lord you know I wish I could
The only thing I could think to ask
But nothing ever hurt so bad
As the “no” that you said back
But ain’t that the truth, man
Those are just facts
The farther you go from where you start
The harder it is to get back
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
This is for all my friends in West Virginia
The good stuff comes
The good stuff goes
The good stuff seems so hard to hold
Hope it slides slowly down your throat
So the taste of it may linger
Right now, I’m just a volcano
On the brink of eruption
Right now I’m just a psycho
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
I wish I may, I wish I might
One day live life like a person in paradise
Right now, I’m just a volcano
On the brink of eruption
Right now I’m just a psycho
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Hell bent on self-destruction
Ride or die
Brothers for life
Darkest days
Coldest nights
Ride or die
Brothers for life
Darkest days
Coldest nights
There ain’t no doctor on earth
There ain’t no lord up above
Who knows a strong enough medicine
Or a lifesaving love
Like I said, I thought I was focused
I thought I had it figured out
How to organize my words good
Before they fall right out my mouth
But I have learned that the direction
I was walking was so wrong
And I just need a little help here, man
To find the path I should be on
Love of my life, gone forever
Love of my life, gone for good
Love of my life, gone forever
Get her back, good lord you know I wish I could
Lyrics submitted by DarkwingDan
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I see the song West Virginia as an ode to a friend/romantic interest who he has grown significantly apart from. I could be completely wrong but I'll give it a shot.
"Is it raining where you are? The only thing I could think to ask. But nothing ever hurt so bad as the 'no' that you said back." Brian (TFB's frontman) is talking to this person on the phone trying to make conversation. He doesn’t really know what to say anymore, and she isn't really putting effort into the conversation either. So he tries to make small talk about the weather. It hurts because they've grown too far apart to even have a regular conversation anymore.
"But ain't that the truth man, those are just facts. The farther you go from where you start, the harder it is to get back." He realizes that he must come to terms with the fact his relationship with this person is just too far gone to be repaired.
"Love of my life, gone forever. Love of my life, gone for good. This is for all my friends in West Virginia." Self explanatory, he's really missing them. And that last line says, this song is for the people I used to have a connection with and now it's just gone.
"The good stuff comes, the good stuff goes, the good stuff seems so hard to hold. Hope it slides slowly down your throat so the taste of it may linger." Even though he knows their relationship has pretty much gone to shit he's still going to try his best to make every bit of it last.
"Right now I'm just a volcano on the brink of eruption. Right now I'm just a psycho hell bent on self destruction." He's ultimately blaming himself for the failure of this relationship. He's aware that he's going to "erupt" and hurt everyone around him and it's almost like he's trying to make things difficult for everyone.
"I wish I may, I wish I might, one day live life like a person in paradise." He wishes maybe he could do things right once in a while.
"Ride or die, brothers for life, darkest days, coldest nights." People who are like family to you that stay with you through the worst.
"There ain't no doctor on Earth, there ain't no lord up above, who knows a strong enough medicine or a life-saving love." There's no one who can fix this relationship no matter how hard they try, it's just too damaged.
"Like I said I thought I was focused, I thought I had it all figured out. I had to organize my words good before they'd fall right out my mouth, before they'd fall right out my mouth. And I had learned that the direction, I was walking was so wrong. I just need a little help here man, to find the path I should be on." Things weren't always this way, he thought everything was fine until he went and messed it up and that was kind of a wake up call to him. He probably did or said something that pissed the other person off and led to a fight they never fully recovered from.
"Love of my life, gone forever. Get her back, good lord you know I wish I could." Again, the relationship is just too messed up to fix and even though he wishes things could be like they were before, he knows they won't be.