"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.
She looked me over
And I guess she thought I was all right
All right in a sort of a limited way for an off-night
She said, "don't I know you from the cinematographer's party?"
I said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She said, "there's something about you
That really reminds me of money"
She is the kind of a girl
Who could say things that weren't that funny
I said, "what does that mean?
I really remind you of money?"
She said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She moved so easily
All I could think of was sunlight
I said, "aren't you the women
Who was recently given a Fulbright?"
She said, "don't I know you
From the cinematographer's party?"
I said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I know what I know
I know what I know
I know what I know
And I guess she thought I was all right
All right in a sort of a limited way for an off-night
She said, "don't I know you from the cinematographer's party?"
I said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She said, "there's something about you
That really reminds me of money"
She is the kind of a girl
Who could say things that weren't that funny
I said, "what does that mean?
I really remind you of money?"
She said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She moved so easily
All I could think of was sunlight
I said, "aren't you the women
Who was recently given a Fulbright?"
She said, "don't I know you
From the cinematographer's party?"
I said, "who am I to blow against the wind?"
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
I know what I know
I know what I know
I know what I know
I know what I know
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Punchline
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One of my favorite songs!
Singer fondly remembers flirting with an attractive woman at a party. He keeps up a cool banter with her, reminding himself that it is only transitive (we come and we go).