"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 am a bus driver and it's four in the morning
And I'm pressing out my clothes beside my bed
Fourteen years been on the job
And with many miles behind
Still I'm up at 3:30 to make sure I'm there on time
My car gets me along just fine
To and from the station
But my castle is this Houston metro bus
My first stop is Ashbury
And the sign's been gone for years
All the same the people wait
Cause they know that I'll be there
What would you say
If I told you that I won't be by today
Would you say that
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm always there by 5:15
And lately I've been early
Cause Judith likes to be in early to the bank
And she gives me conversation
And a token good for riding
And she's happy all alone
And then there's Charles in retail sales
And I hope they pay him well
For the work that young man does
Cause I've never seen the inside of a custom refrigerator
But I know that he's the first and last one there
What would you say
If I told you that I won't be by today
Would you say that
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
And what do I know
And I wonder what they do all day
At their respective works
I suppose they give money and take money away
Still I'm just orbiting this town
With the post office my sun
And I'm circling again
And I wonder how this world would be
If I was never here
To drive this bus around from Ashbury to Main
I suppose this town would be the same
With one bus' less exhaust
But that bank and retail store
They just wouldn't be the same
But what can I see
From the limited confines of my bus driving seat
Only me
And I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm just a bus driver
So don't believe that
Just a bus driver
Well don't believe that
Just a bus driver
Well don't believe that
We're all just bus drivers
And it's time to go home
And I'm pressing out my clothes beside my bed
Fourteen years been on the job
And with many miles behind
Still I'm up at 3:30 to make sure I'm there on time
My car gets me along just fine
To and from the station
But my castle is this Houston metro bus
My first stop is Ashbury
And the sign's been gone for years
All the same the people wait
Cause they know that I'll be there
What would you say
If I told you that I won't be by today
Would you say that
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm always there by 5:15
And lately I've been early
Cause Judith likes to be in early to the bank
And she gives me conversation
And a token good for riding
And she's happy all alone
And then there's Charles in retail sales
And I hope they pay him well
For the work that young man does
Cause I've never seen the inside of a custom refrigerator
But I know that he's the first and last one there
What would you say
If I told you that I won't be by today
Would you say that
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
And what do I know
And I wonder what they do all day
At their respective works
I suppose they give money and take money away
Still I'm just orbiting this town
With the post office my sun
And I'm circling again
And I wonder how this world would be
If I was never here
To drive this bus around from Ashbury to Main
I suppose this town would be the same
With one bus' less exhaust
But that bank and retail store
They just wouldn't be the same
But what can I see
From the limited confines of my bus driving seat
Only me
And I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
Just a bus driver
And what do I know
I'm just a bus driver
So don't believe that
Just a bus driver
Well don't believe that
Just a bus driver
Well don't believe that
We're all just bus drivers
And it's time to go home
Lyrics submitted by OiSterHedPhan
Bus Driver Lyrics as written by Derek W. Webb
Lyrics © MUSIC SERVICES, INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I love it when he says "We're all just bus drivers, and it's time to go home..." I think that is talking about being humble: from janitor to brain surgeon to bus driver, our careers don't elevate us above or depress us below anyone else in this world, not in light of the truth, anyhow. It truly is "time to go home"--give up the elitist crap and just be who we are, who we were made to be. Whether that's a bus driver or a brain surgeon.