"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.
It took me years to find
True mind at peace
And now you treat me like
They approve me
You're my poem, yes you know
Yet you stole my way
Just to know this, you told me
You were late
When you would call, I would hold
And I still remain
Then you led me to believe that's what you wanted
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
True love, but I'd see you
Treat me more like you
And I'd try to heal it
But I feel so thrown back
Take my hand, in the cold
In the snow, but you do not break
But they told you, convinced you
Think I'd play
But I know myself better than you do
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
May, May calling slow
Finally in a dress that meant money in the bank
Drinking hard so you can't feel the warmth of the arms
So you dreamt, fade away
Take my hand, I paid my fine
In the park, in the dark, when you said my name
On the bench, when I felt that you smiled
And you said there, that child
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
True mind at peace
And now you treat me like
They approve me
You're my poem, yes you know
Yet you stole my way
Just to know this, you told me
You were late
When you would call, I would hold
And I still remain
Then you led me to believe that's what you wanted
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
True love, but I'd see you
Treat me more like you
And I'd try to heal it
But I feel so thrown back
Take my hand, in the cold
In the snow, but you do not break
But they told you, convinced you
Think I'd play
But I know myself better than you do
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
May, May calling slow
Finally in a dress that meant money in the bank
Drinking hard so you can't feel the warmth of the arms
So you dreamt, fade away
Take my hand, I paid my fine
In the park, in the dark, when you said my name
On the bench, when I felt that you smiled
And you said there, that child
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
Pay my debts away, pay my debts
Pay my debts away
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Fast Car
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npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/06/01/407058268/sharon-van-etten-explains-the-heartbreak-behind-her-new-ep-track-by-track