"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.
The Ice Cream Man Cometh
Out on the streets a hot summer's day,
The kids getting hungry as they frolic and play,
Then comes the ringing sound it signals the plan,
They quickly surrounded the evil white van,
Eleven years old, but they didn't flinch,
Their watergun barrels did not move an inch,
The driver was guilty, but he had no clue,
Raised in a system he'd never thought through,
And the kids - TOGETHER,
They fought as one and they beat the man,
And the kids - TOGETHER,
They sowed us all how to make a stand,
From that day on, the dairy was gone,
He tried to fix what he had done wrong,
"GOOD BYE GOOD HUMOR, cruelty's not nice",
He said as he sold treats made from soy beans and rice,
'cause it's never too late to see the light,
To change your ways and do what is right,
The war wasn't over but the battle was won,
And now the neighborhood could have GOOD CLEAN FUN,
Well now you know the story,
And now you know it's true,
If little kids can change the world,
Just think what we could do.
Out on the streets a hot summer's day,
The kids getting hungry as they frolic and play,
Then comes the ringing sound it signals the plan,
They quickly surrounded the evil white van,
Eleven years old, but they didn't flinch,
Their watergun barrels did not move an inch,
The driver was guilty, but he had no clue,
Raised in a system he'd never thought through,
And the kids - TOGETHER,
They fought as one and they beat the man,
And the kids - TOGETHER,
They sowed us all how to make a stand,
From that day on, the dairy was gone,
He tried to fix what he had done wrong,
"GOOD BYE GOOD HUMOR, cruelty's not nice",
He said as he sold treats made from soy beans and rice,
'cause it's never too late to see the light,
To change your ways and do what is right,
The war wasn't over but the battle was won,
And now the neighborhood could have GOOD CLEAN FUN,
Well now you know the story,
And now you know it's true,
If little kids can change the world,
Just think what we could do.
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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"Just think what we could do."