"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 really good to her
But now she broke my heart
She looked so young and she seemed so sweet
But I was wrong from the start
She has a way about her
That makes her run around
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
I waited so impatiently
It didn't do my mind any good
I never thought she would set me free
I did all the things that I should
Then all at once I would fold her
'Cause she could not be found
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
I didn't think that I
Would wait for her very long
But I didn't realize
My love for her was so strong
She might be going from heart to heart
She might be puttin' them down
The way she took me all apart
And made me the laugh of the town
She has a way about her
That makes her run around
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
But now she broke my heart
She looked so young and she seemed so sweet
But I was wrong from the start
She has a way about her
That makes her run around
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
I waited so impatiently
It didn't do my mind any good
I never thought she would set me free
I did all the things that I should
Then all at once I would fold her
'Cause she could not be found
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
I didn't think that I
Would wait for her very long
But I didn't realize
My love for her was so strong
She might be going from heart to heart
She might be puttin' them down
The way she took me all apart
And made me the laugh of the town
She has a way about her
That makes her run around
Now I wonder if she'll ever
Want to settle down
Oh oh
Oh oh
Lyrics submitted by planetearth
She Has a Way Lyrics as written by Gene Clark
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
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Sweet song. One of the Byrds's finest.