"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.
I had disengaged to avoid being totaled
I would run away and say good riddance soon enough
I had grown disgusted by your small-minded ceiling
To imagining myself bolting had not been difficult
Soon be my life
Soon be my pace
Soon be my choice of which you'll have no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
I hit the ground running although I know not what toward
I hit the town reeling forgetting all that came before
I felt primed and ready unsurrounded by the pawns
I felt culture shocked, but dissuaded, I was not
This is my town
This is my voice
This is my taste of what you've have no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
One day I'll saddle back and speak foreign adventures
One day I'll double back and tell you about these unfettered years
One day I'll look back and feel something other than relieved
Glad that I left when I did before no dear, you can't got the best of me
When I'd speak of artistry you would roll your eyes skyward
When I'd speak of spirituality you label me absurd
When I spoke of impossibility you would frown and shake your head
If I had stayed much longer I'd have surely imploded
These are my words
This is my house
These are my friends of which you've had no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
I would run away and say good riddance soon enough
I had grown disgusted by your small-minded ceiling
To imagining myself bolting had not been difficult
Soon be my life
Soon be my pace
Soon be my choice of which you'll have no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
I hit the ground running although I know not what toward
I hit the town reeling forgetting all that came before
I felt primed and ready unsurrounded by the pawns
I felt culture shocked, but dissuaded, I was not
This is my town
This is my voice
This is my taste of what you've have no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
One day I'll saddle back and speak foreign adventures
One day I'll double back and tell you about these unfettered years
One day I'll look back and feel something other than relieved
Glad that I left when I did before no dear, you can't got the best of me
When I'd speak of artistry you would roll your eyes skyward
When I'd speak of spirituality you label me absurd
When I spoke of impossibility you would frown and shake your head
If I had stayed much longer I'd have surely imploded
These are my words
This is my house
These are my friends of which you've had no part of
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
Unprodigal Daughter and I'm heading for the west
Disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough
Unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last!
I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed
Lyrics submitted by merchantpierce
Unprodigal Daughter Lyrics as written by Alanis Morissette
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'm not a native speaker of English and I cannot figure out in any way what "saddle back" means... Can you guys help me?