"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.
[Chorus:]
Baby, baby, baby
I want to know you
Place no one above you
I want to love you
Baby, baby, baby
I want to be your man...
I remember the first time I came
To this park
It was one day last may
I saw you lookin' like a star...um humm...
I'll never forget the scent of, your perfume
Girl I just gotta see you again...ohh...
Too my dismay I had the chance to be with you
Girl I'll never forget, how I traveled to the moon...
Still I'm waitin' in the park
Waitin' after dark...
I've got to see you again...oohh...
[Chorus:]
So I dream a little dream of us were, holding hands
And we're takin' long walks, down in the land
My palms are sweaty and my hearts beatin' fast
'Cause you smiled and said you'd see me again...
I ain't gonna let you get away this time
That's why I waited here so long
I'm gonna make you mine
Still I'm waiting in the park
Waitin' after dark...
Waiting here to see you again...
[Chorus:]
I loved you from the moment,
That you graced your beauty
And I just can't wait darlin'
To see you again...
I want to be your..
I want to be your man...
(listen baby)
I want to be your man...
Baby... baby, baby, baby,(wanna know you)
[Chorus:]
Baby, baby, baby
I want to know you
Place no one above you
I want to love you
Baby, baby, baby
I want to be your man...
I remember the first time I came
To this park
It was one day last may
I saw you lookin' like a star...um humm...
I'll never forget the scent of, your perfume
Girl I just gotta see you again...ohh...
Too my dismay I had the chance to be with you
Girl I'll never forget, how I traveled to the moon...
Still I'm waitin' in the park
Waitin' after dark...
I've got to see you again...oohh...
[Chorus:]
So I dream a little dream of us were, holding hands
And we're takin' long walks, down in the land
My palms are sweaty and my hearts beatin' fast
'Cause you smiled and said you'd see me again...
I ain't gonna let you get away this time
That's why I waited here so long
I'm gonna make you mine
Still I'm waiting in the park
Waitin' after dark...
Waiting here to see you again...
[Chorus:]
I loved you from the moment,
That you graced your beauty
And I just can't wait darlin'
To see you again...
I want to be your..
I want to be your man...
(listen baby)
I want to be your man...
Baby... baby, baby, baby,(wanna know you)
[Chorus:]
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Fast Car
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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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Great version of a great song,
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