"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.
Mama, they try and break me
The window burns to light the way back home
A light that warms no matter where they've gone
They're off to find the hero of the day
But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way?
Still the window burns, time so slowly turns
Someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames, do you feel your name?
Can't you hear your babies crying?
Mama, they try and break me
Still they try and break me
Excuse me while I tend to how I feel
These things return to me that still seem real
Now deservingly this easy chair
But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair
Don't want your aid
But the fist I've made for years can't hold or feel
No, I'm not all me
So please excuse me while I tend to how I feel
But now the dreams and waking screams (now the dreams)
That ever last the night
So build a wall, behind it crawl (so build a wall)
And hide until it's light
So can you hear your babies crying now?
Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
And someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames, can't you hear your names?
Can't you hear your babies crying?
But now the dreams and waking screams (now the dreams)
That ever last the night
So build a wall, behind it crawl (so build a wall)
And hide until it's light
So can't you hear your babies crying now?
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try, mama, they try
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama they try, mama they try
The window burns to light the way back home
A light that warms no matter where they've gone
They're off to find the hero of the day
But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way?
Still the window burns, time so slowly turns
Someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames, do you feel your name?
Can't you hear your babies crying?
Mama, they try and break me
Still they try and break me
Excuse me while I tend to how I feel
These things return to me that still seem real
Now deservingly this easy chair
But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair
Don't want your aid
But the fist I've made for years can't hold or feel
No, I'm not all me
So please excuse me while I tend to how I feel
But now the dreams and waking screams (now the dreams)
That ever last the night
So build a wall, behind it crawl (so build a wall)
And hide until it's light
So can you hear your babies crying now?
Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
And someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames, can't you hear your names?
Can't you hear your babies crying?
But now the dreams and waking screams (now the dreams)
That ever last the night
So build a wall, behind it crawl (so build a wall)
And hide until it's light
So can't you hear your babies crying now?
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try, mama, they try
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama, they try and break me (mama, they try and break me)
Mama they try, mama they try
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it's pretty vague lyrically, as it seems to almost be talking about different things. what i feel he is saying is similar to mo0stah, but it involves looking up to someone who is not quite the hero of the day you thought they were.