"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.
From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande.
Well he started with a bank in Colorado
in the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
and his age and his size
took the teller by surprise
and, the word spread of Billy the kid
Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
and he never had a home
but the cowboy and the rancher knew his name
Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
and the largest could not seem to track him down
and it served his legend well
For the folks they loved to tell about
When Billy the kid came to town
Well one cold day a posse captured Billy
and the judge said "String him up for what he did"
And the cowboys and their kin
like the sea, came pouring in
to watch the hanging of Billy the kid.
Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
but he finally found a home
under the boothill grave that bears his name.
From a town known as Oyster Bay Long Island
Rode a boy with a six pack in his hand
and his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande
Rode a boy with a six gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande.
Well he started with a bank in Colorado
in the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
and his age and his size
took the teller by surprise
and, the word spread of Billy the kid
Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
and he never had a home
but the cowboy and the rancher knew his name
Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
and the largest could not seem to track him down
and it served his legend well
For the folks they loved to tell about
When Billy the kid came to town
Well one cold day a posse captured Billy
and the judge said "String him up for what he did"
And the cowboys and their kin
like the sea, came pouring in
to watch the hanging of Billy the kid.
Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
but he finally found a home
under the boothill grave that bears his name.
From a town known as Oyster Bay Long Island
Rode a boy with a six pack in his hand
and his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande
Lyrics submitted by fletch699, edited by DanVitaleRocks
Ballad Of Billy The Kid Lyrics as written by Billy Joel
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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