"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.
Six years ago, a very hot summer night, ave a with friends hanging tight
No future, no goals, and no destiny, hanging on the corner
For the world to see
Some friends drunk, some friends high
Laughing talking shit as the people walked by
The air was tense and muggy as fuck, lower east side running amuck
Guilty by association, judged by who I know
Can't keep all my friends out of trouble
When they got no place to go
Me drug free in the midst of it all
Crazy fucking summer hanging out with madball
People got their ass kicked, people got hurt
But I was accepted for all it was worth
Bad reputations are hard to live down
I'm not guilty for who I hang around
Sometimes I felt like an outcast, trying to talk my friends out of trouble
Tried to be a positive role model, but I got caught up in the rumble
We had ideas scribbled on walls, six years later, our destiny calls
Living our lives, some of us in bands
Touring the world, but we know where we stand
'Cause when we play shows together or just hanging out
We're still the same fellas, still all tight, young till we die
And ready to fight for what's right
As I look back now on that summer vacation
I realize, I'll always be guilty by association
No future, no goals, and no destiny, hanging on the corner
For the world to see
Some friends drunk, some friends high
Laughing talking shit as the people walked by
The air was tense and muggy as fuck, lower east side running amuck
Guilty by association, judged by who I know
Can't keep all my friends out of trouble
When they got no place to go
Me drug free in the midst of it all
Crazy fucking summer hanging out with madball
People got their ass kicked, people got hurt
But I was accepted for all it was worth
Bad reputations are hard to live down
I'm not guilty for who I hang around
Sometimes I felt like an outcast, trying to talk my friends out of trouble
Tried to be a positive role model, but I got caught up in the rumble
We had ideas scribbled on walls, six years later, our destiny calls
Living our lives, some of us in bands
Touring the world, but we know where we stand
'Cause when we play shows together or just hanging out
We're still the same fellas, still all tight, young till we die
And ready to fight for what's right
As I look back now on that summer vacation
I realize, I'll always be guilty by association
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Fast Car
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i love this song, it's pretty self explanatory, how people are judged by who they hang out with, and even if you arent doing something and your friends are, people label you as guilty just by association. But eventually that peer pressure kicks in...i dunno, thats just what i think of the song.
The dudes rock, and they kick live. Great song!!!
this is mi fave h20 song,, the guys are awesome and the music efing ruyles,, well there's mi 2 cents,, bibi
These guys totally rock...I saw one of their shows while they were on tour with Sum 41, and they're a HELL OF A LOT BETTER than Sum 41. THEY TOTALLY ROCK LIVE!! Can't wait to see another one of their shows.
Definitely my favourite song by H2O. A great anthem for teenage angst, when we feel that we are always clumped together. That is, judged by our friends more so than who we are.
This song definitely deserves a lot more comments than it currently has!!