"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.
You could say I might find it difficult to show it on the outside from far away I should seem as ordinary as would seem the truth but all we find dishonesty and lies it's hard to recognize the truth and why can't I discover what the reason is that I know there's something left that I should prove I didn't mean to burden you is there something more to this? I didn't mean to burden you is there something more to this? was it something that I've already missed? peel away the fear that I'm not good enough to give back what I've taken it's hard to say the dissappointment tends to make the optimism fade I'm still behind and running out of time it's nothing but a trite excuse and why can't I discover what the reason is that I know there's something left that I should prove
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