"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.
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' double
On a cold, dark night by the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Gonna wash my clothes, scrape off all the grease
Gonna lock the doors and turn my back on the world for a while
I'll stay right there 'til I paint my masterpiece
Well, the hours I've spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions with that mean and hungry look
Those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
I could see 'em comin', I could read their faces like a book
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is gonna be different
When I paint, when I paint my masterpiece
Sailin' 'round the world full of crimson and clover
Sometimes I feel just like my cup isn't runnin' over
I left Rome and I pulled into Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that it made me ill
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles
Everyone was there to meet me, comin' down the hill
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held back by big police
Someday, everything is going to be beautiful
When I paint my masterpiece
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' double
On a cold, dark night by the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Gonna wash my clothes, scrape off all the grease
Gonna lock the doors and turn my back on the world for a while
I'll stay right there 'til I paint my masterpiece
Well, the hours I've spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions with that mean and hungry look
Those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
I could see 'em comin', I could read their faces like a book
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is gonna be different
When I paint, when I paint my masterpiece
Sailin' 'round the world full of crimson and clover
Sometimes I feel just like my cup isn't runnin' over
I left Rome and I pulled into Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that it made me ill
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles
Everyone was there to meet me, comin' down the hill
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held back by big police
Someday, everything is going to be beautiful
When I paint my masterpiece
Lyrics submitted by gracelyn, edited by AGAGAGAGAGAGAG
When I Paint My Masterpiece [Shadow Kingdom Version] Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Holiday
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Amazing
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My interpretation has always been the same as tobiaswitherspoon: art/paintings as a metaphor for finding love. By the time he wrote this song, Dylan had already created many masterpieces in the form of songs/albums that were both extremely popular and also artistically acclaimed, so I don't think that's what the song is about. But finding a true love is something that can be elusive to even the most rich, powerful or acclaimed; and it's something that can radically alter one's perspective ("everything's gonna be different...").