"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.
Boul ma sene, boul ma guiss madi re nga fokni mane
Khamouma li neka thi sama souf ak thi guinaw
Beugouma kouma khol oaldine yaw li neka si yaw
Mo ne si man, li ne si mane moye dilene diapale
Roughneck and rudeness
We should be using on the ones who practice wicked charms
For the sword and the stone
Bad to the bone
Battle is not over
Even when it's won
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone of skin it's living in
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
J'assume les raisons qui nous poussent de changer tout
J'aimerais qu'on oublie leur couleur pour qu'ils esperent
Beaucoup de sentiments de race qui font qu'ils desesperent
Je veux les portes grandements ouvertes
Des amis pour parler de leur peine, de leur joie
Pour qu'ils leur filent des infos qui ne divisent pas
Changer
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone of skin it's living in
And there's a million voices
And there's a million voices
To tell you what you should be thinking
So you better sober up for just a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
Khamouma li neka thi sama souf ak thi guinaw
Beugouma kouma khol oaldine yaw li neka si yaw
Mo ne si man, li ne si mane moye dilene diapale
Roughneck and rudeness
We should be using on the ones who practice wicked charms
For the sword and the stone
Bad to the bone
Battle is not over
Even when it's won
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone of skin it's living in
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
J'assume les raisons qui nous poussent de changer tout
J'aimerais qu'on oublie leur couleur pour qu'ils esperent
Beaucoup de sentiments de race qui font qu'ils desesperent
Je veux les portes grandements ouvertes
Des amis pour parler de leur peine, de leur joie
Pour qu'ils leur filent des infos qui ne divisent pas
Changer
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
I'll be waiting
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone of skin it's living in
And there's a million voices
And there's a million voices
To tell you what you should be thinking
So you better sober up for just a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
We're seven seconds away
Or just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
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This is the french translation so mop 32 was pretty close-j'assume les raisons qui nous poussent de changer tout, I assume the resons that lead us to change everything,
-J'aimerais qu'on oublie leur couleur pour qu'ils esperent I wish we could forget their color so they can hope
-Beaucoup de sentiments de races qui font qu'ils desesperent lots of feelings for races which make them lose hope (despair)
-Je veux les deux mains ouvertes, I want the two hands opened,
-Des amis pour parler de leur peine, de leur joie (and) friends to talk about their life penalty, about their joy
-Pour qu'ils leur filent des infos qui ne divisent pas so they can give'em infos that do not divide(scatter)
-Changer change
This so poetic and dramatic and i also think the 7 seconds is about a child's life being lost but i don't know for certain. Loved this song at live 8 when Yossou N'dour did it with Dido, it is truly amazing live!