"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 was caught in a bad dream I was locked out on love
I got stuck in the slipstream 'til I lucked out for once
In the sky behind this club I saw her face high-rise
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we played at CBGB on a 4th of July 3 a.m.
Soundman wanted to kill us then
He was strung out on Ex-Lax he was fucked in his lungs
He got shot out on Avenue A
while sucking on some slut's tongue
He would dress up like a whore
just to get lucky once in a while
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we played at the Knitting Factory for fifteen people
thirty bucks someone broke into the goddamn truck
He had shit in his pants he had a needle in his arm
He just stole a couple sleeping bags
that he needed to stay warm
He couldn't even walk
We found him crawling in a garbage pile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we met with even greater misfortune
in the Armpit of the Americas four dumb hicks from hunger
We got ripped off by these assholes at a Fort Lee garage
They didn't weld that motherfucking leaf spring
Those sparks were a mirage
We hallucinated freely huddled shivering on the tile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
Six hundred dollars later we were still drinking bad coffee
Couldn't sleep stomachs were full of pizza grease
I called her up long-distance
There was freezing on the line
Did she trust me
Could she throw me with a strong breeze from behind
No and no again no fucking shit a crazy smile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but the stage was set for tension so I cried and I spit
I drooled and wept and I hit the gas for Pittsburgh
I was caught in a bad dream I was out on the nod
I got stuck in the slipstream until I blacked out thank God
I got stuck in the slipstream 'til I lucked out for once
In the sky behind this club I saw her face high-rise
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we played at CBGB on a 4th of July 3 a.m.
Soundman wanted to kill us then
He was strung out on Ex-Lax he was fucked in his lungs
He got shot out on Avenue A
while sucking on some slut's tongue
He would dress up like a whore
just to get lucky once in a while
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we played at the Knitting Factory for fifteen people
thirty bucks someone broke into the goddamn truck
He had shit in his pants he had a needle in his arm
He just stole a couple sleeping bags
that he needed to stay warm
He couldn't even walk
We found him crawling in a garbage pile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but we met with even greater misfortune
in the Armpit of the Americas four dumb hicks from hunger
We got ripped off by these assholes at a Fort Lee garage
They didn't weld that motherfucking leaf spring
Those sparks were a mirage
We hallucinated freely huddled shivering on the tile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
Six hundred dollars later we were still drinking bad coffee
Couldn't sleep stomachs were full of pizza grease
I called her up long-distance
There was freezing on the line
Did she trust me
Could she throw me with a strong breeze from behind
No and no again no fucking shit a crazy smile
I didn't want to lose it on that miracle mile
but the stage was set for tension so I cried and I spit
I drooled and wept and I hit the gas for Pittsburgh
I was caught in a bad dream I was out on the nod
I got stuck in the slipstream until I blacked out thank God
Lyrics submitted by mrtrout
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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very beat