"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.
While I'm wide awake, while I've got you here,
'cause we come and go.
If I had to say it right now, I don't know.
Wearing some black sunglasses and your mouth was full,
I saw you almost fall while we were by the shore.
I started laughing at your wide eyes,
But you're living good, you're living alright.
Watching the lights move across the water,
Watching it all spin a little slower.
Oh then the rain came, we found some cover.
I don't even know her.
How about we try and talk it out?
Yeah I like your face.
While the ships moved away from the harbor,
I never caught your name.
It looks like it might try and storm again,
If it does I might have a glass or two, it just depends.
'cause still, I was laughing at your wide eyes,
But you're living good, you're living alright.
Watching the lights move across the water,
Watching it all spin a little slower.
Oh then the rain came, we found some cover.
I don't even know her.
Can you feel it in the wind at your back
And the sun upon your face, my friend?
Can you hear it in the words and the stories,
Tell me how it goes again?
Then I'll tell you that I've been keeping close to the riverside,
I've been watching all these sounds collide.
I heard them late nights, yeah they sound like...
'cause we come and go.
If I had to say it right now, I don't know.
Wearing some black sunglasses and your mouth was full,
I saw you almost fall while we were by the shore.
I started laughing at your wide eyes,
But you're living good, you're living alright.
Watching the lights move across the water,
Watching it all spin a little slower.
Oh then the rain came, we found some cover.
I don't even know her.
How about we try and talk it out?
Yeah I like your face.
While the ships moved away from the harbor,
I never caught your name.
It looks like it might try and storm again,
If it does I might have a glass or two, it just depends.
'cause still, I was laughing at your wide eyes,
But you're living good, you're living alright.
Watching the lights move across the water,
Watching it all spin a little slower.
Oh then the rain came, we found some cover.
I don't even know her.
Can you feel it in the wind at your back
And the sun upon your face, my friend?
Can you hear it in the words and the stories,
Tell me how it goes again?
Then I'll tell you that I've been keeping close to the riverside,
I've been watching all these sounds collide.
I heard them late nights, yeah they sound like...
Lyrics submitted by PrettyToy712
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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To me this is a throwback to the Illuminate/Assailants days. Such a great song.