"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 is the key to all the doors
It is the crashing on the shores
It lives in your steering wheel
It hides in the wind and rain
With voices as cold as steel
It's calling your name
It is the smile upon his face
It is the winning of the race
It lives in the red-alert
It lives in the power game
It's easy to take to heart
But harder to tame
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
It is the glowing in his eyes
It is the reason for his lies
Oh, how many know you're there
Oh, how many play your game
He's always the man to dare
You're always to blame
It is the need to understand
Oh, it is the trigger in his hand
It lives in the uniform
It grows from the need to gain
With faces so old and torn
It's calling your name
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
It lives in the red-alert
It lives in the power game
It's easy to take to heart
But harder to tame
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
It is the crashing on the shores
It lives in your steering wheel
It hides in the wind and rain
With voices as cold as steel
It's calling your name
It is the smile upon his face
It is the winning of the race
It lives in the red-alert
It lives in the power game
It's easy to take to heart
But harder to tame
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
It is the glowing in his eyes
It is the reason for his lies
Oh, how many know you're there
Oh, how many play your game
He's always the man to dare
You're always to blame
It is the need to understand
Oh, it is the trigger in his hand
It lives in the uniform
It grows from the need to gain
With faces so old and torn
It's calling your name
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
It lives in the red-alert
It lives in the power game
It's easy to take to heart
But harder to tame
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
Without all this heat
They'll be dancing west to east
This is the nature of the beast
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
This is the nature of the beast
(This is the nature)
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Fast Car
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