"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.
I can finally sense the light at the end of this dark hole
I remember when they told me that this would never end
That I would be in curses and my heart would harden
They told me i would live a victim there was no way out of this
So I stayed in the same place and listen
I tried to run to safety but it wasn’t so safe then
And I pulled my reigns in
Like a racing wolf at the gates waiting to win
But until then
Where do I put my heart
Ask it again
I can smell the smoking gun before I pull the trigger
And i can taste the freedom in the air I’ve always wanted
And i can race around this track and never get weaker
Just when I think Im getting smaller I’m only getting bigger
So I let my reighns drop to the ground where I walk
Now that I’m here
Where do I start
Where do I put my heart
Ask it again
I come from a place
A land from far away I’m never going back to
Where the ground is razor blades
Callusing my feet I’m gaining strength
But when I bleed I’m only bleeding arrows
Going where the light goes fast as sound
And as I’m speeding in my skin
I have been locked and loaded
Where do I put my heart
I remember when they told me that this would never end
That I would be in curses and my heart would harden
They told me i would live a victim there was no way out of this
So I stayed in the same place and listen
I tried to run to safety but it wasn’t so safe then
And I pulled my reigns in
Like a racing wolf at the gates waiting to win
But until then
Where do I put my heart
Ask it again
I can smell the smoking gun before I pull the trigger
And i can taste the freedom in the air I’ve always wanted
And i can race around this track and never get weaker
Just when I think Im getting smaller I’m only getting bigger
So I let my reighns drop to the ground where I walk
Now that I’m here
Where do I start
Where do I put my heart
Ask it again
I come from a place
A land from far away I’m never going back to
Where the ground is razor blades
Callusing my feet I’m gaining strength
But when I bleed I’m only bleeding arrows
Going where the light goes fast as sound
And as I’m speeding in my skin
I have been locked and loaded
Where do I put my heart
Lyrics submitted by KitKattles
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Silent Planet
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