"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.
Senorita, looks like you ain't done nothing good
When it ain't supposed to do
Oh no no no no
I seen her downtown about an hour ago
Behind the glass at a peep show
I got nervous 'cause I don't know
Can she see me behind that window?
It's almost nine and I'm back in line
I can't get the girl with the Spanish tears out of my mind
I've got to make her mine, all mine
But somethin' is wrong, she don't belong
She oughta be back where she's from
Maybe back on this Mexico City
Man, I don't know her but she sure is pretty
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
Now when I make that girl all mine
I'm gonna stand by her once I get inside of
Her barbed wire, once I get inside
I bet she'd look good in a brand new dress
She never felt good in her fish net
She's got to be this towns best mess
But it ain't nothin' that her face would suggest
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
I gotta make her see, I'm a guarantee
Oh, if she'd only come along with me
I can make her see
Gonna take a walk right through these walls
'Cause she's comin' home with me
I ain't even gonna touch her at all
Man, I'm only gonna lay awake and watch her sleep
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
When it ain't supposed to do
Oh no no no no
I seen her downtown about an hour ago
Behind the glass at a peep show
I got nervous 'cause I don't know
Can she see me behind that window?
It's almost nine and I'm back in line
I can't get the girl with the Spanish tears out of my mind
I've got to make her mine, all mine
But somethin' is wrong, she don't belong
She oughta be back where she's from
Maybe back on this Mexico City
Man, I don't know her but she sure is pretty
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
Now when I make that girl all mine
I'm gonna stand by her once I get inside of
Her barbed wire, once I get inside
I bet she'd look good in a brand new dress
She never felt good in her fish net
She's got to be this towns best mess
But it ain't nothin' that her face would suggest
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
I gotta make her see, I'm a guarantee
Oh, if she'd only come along with me
I can make her see
Gonna take a walk right through these walls
'Cause she's comin' home with me
I ain't even gonna touch her at all
Man, I'm only gonna lay awake and watch her sleep
But God don't make lonely girls
Sure didn't want 'em in His world
God don't make lonely girls
Yeah, yeah, doo doo doo doo
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Jane's Addiction
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Great version of a great song,
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This song is amazing. It's about a girl he sees at a peep show (I think everyone knows what that is), and he sorta falls in love with her. He thinks she deserves a lot better than what she has. Eventually he gets her to come home with him. Where things go from there I guess is up in the air, but he's trying to give her a new start.