"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 stole a page from your book
And a line from your page
And flew into a lesbian rage
Cursing mine and my own rotten luck
Another nude descends a staircase to get fucked
A city scene, darkness falls
Now skate hard down the gallery walls
Explore those themes
I hear your work is informed by queens
Hey, so is mine now
There is a plague on
There is a rat-tailed ensemble burying all of our hits in the sand
The same sand a desert uses
The same sand a desert uses
wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Don't dethrone the drama queen
Just for putting everybody in their place
There is a plague on
There is a rat-tailed ensemble burying all of our hits in the sand
The same sand a desert uses
The same sand a desert uses
Now wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Now wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Don't dethrone the drama queen
Just for putting everybody in their place
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
And a line from your page
And flew into a lesbian rage
Cursing mine and my own rotten luck
Another nude descends a staircase to get fucked
A city scene, darkness falls
Now skate hard down the gallery walls
Explore those themes
I hear your work is informed by queens
Hey, so is mine now
There is a plague on
There is a rat-tailed ensemble burying all of our hits in the sand
The same sand a desert uses
The same sand a desert uses
wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Don't dethrone the drama queen
Just for putting everybody in their place
There is a plague on
There is a rat-tailed ensemble burying all of our hits in the sand
The same sand a desert uses
The same sand a desert uses
Now wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Now wipe that look from your face
The world is that which is the case
It is okay to be seen
Don't dethrone the drama queen
Just for putting everybody in their place
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
Go, don't stay, just throw it all away.
There is you and then there is your body.
Lyrics submitted by Statbucksbabe28, edited by 101Volts
Chump Change Lyrics as written by Johnathan Carter Jim Davies
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave
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I think it's about high school, and the bitter jealousy and resentment of watching the girls you revere fucking the rat-tailed bastards that you hate, and how everybody makes a point not to care. As much as "the same sand a desert uses" means anything, it probably refers to the desert's barrenness, and thus, burying your head in nihilism - a common response in youth to rapid loss of innocence.