"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.
Long in tooth, olives and vermouth
I dine like an ageing pilot
Where are they now, the money and the crowd?
Must I really come back down?
It's like I never was a kid, the big math just wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did, your friends never thought that much of me
And now I want to fall into something else
An origami plane to a distant island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real
All my life, compromise on wings of resignation
Big grey eyes staring from the sky
Am I humble enough now?
I've always had something to hide
My skinny arms, my evil intentions
And back at school, hitting the fire alarms
Desperately wanting attention
Well I was just a boy
Out there on my own
Wishing I could fly
Fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to bore you to death
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Get it off my chest
It's like I never was a kid, the big math, it wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did, your friends never thought that much of me
Well I was just a boy
Out there on my own
Wishing I could fly
Fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real
Before it gets too real
Before it gets too real
Real, oh, oh, oh
Real
I dine like an ageing pilot
Where are they now, the money and the crowd?
Must I really come back down?
It's like I never was a kid, the big math just wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did, your friends never thought that much of me
And now I want to fall into something else
An origami plane to a distant island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real
All my life, compromise on wings of resignation
Big grey eyes staring from the sky
Am I humble enough now?
I've always had something to hide
My skinny arms, my evil intentions
And back at school, hitting the fire alarms
Desperately wanting attention
Well I was just a boy
Out there on my own
Wishing I could fly
Fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to bore you to death
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Get it off my chest
It's like I never was a kid, the big math, it wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did, your friends never thought that much of me
Well I was just a boy
Out there on my own
Wishing I could fly
Fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real
Before it gets too real
Before it gets too real
Real, oh, oh, oh
Real
Lyrics submitted by outofmy0mind
Fantasy Island Lyrics as written by James Russell Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about someone reminiscing on his own childhood and how much he's seemed to have changed but realizing that deep down he's pretty much the same -- and he doesn't like that. He'd rather run away "to fantasy island" and pretend to be different to please those around him.
My first favorite song on this album. My interpretation is a character who is very self-critical and has always overthought everything, even from a young age. Maybe a romantic, but for certain an idealist who lives in their head. It's easier to live in a fantasy world inside of your head than to risk rejection by expressing your thoughts to another person.