"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.
stay by stopping
it came out and left me fair
i wanna stare darling
oh man oh she became a game
wonder what you meant
when you said one thing
i did another
oh hell yeah
what you'd give to be me
or what i be
yeah but stare oh what you do what you do
but please just stay away from me
and soft you cry just a couple times
and then i'm gonna get heavy on you
you say oh this is the last night
last night i'm coming back
cause i swear now i know what you do
you're crazy
if it helps you get by
i tell you you're crazy
even so you lie
oh mercy that you did
come oh so like a train into me
start her harm
what do i make of you
i tell you i make nothing at all
so i offer that do this you did
you get your time
and left you there standing
i look like a fool
but do you salt
when you shed those tears
falls it ever worse been shed
i will not swim in the river then
crazy
once to get by
i tell you you're crazy
if you think that'll fly please
you got more time i said
i wanna give the bone
you say well i take it back to the top
you say you wanna start again
i say no way no way
but you convince me again
you get me back there
oh just one time
i'd like to be standing staring at you
broken from myself
you're crazy
once you get by
i tell you you're crazy
you wanna live this lie again
i tell you you're crazy babe
if you think that'll fly
oh i tell you you got to be crazy
if you think that'll fly
i'll try to get tied
it came out and left me fair
i wanna stare darling
oh man oh she became a game
wonder what you meant
when you said one thing
i did another
oh hell yeah
what you'd give to be me
or what i be
yeah but stare oh what you do what you do
but please just stay away from me
and soft you cry just a couple times
and then i'm gonna get heavy on you
you say oh this is the last night
last night i'm coming back
cause i swear now i know what you do
you're crazy
if it helps you get by
i tell you you're crazy
even so you lie
oh mercy that you did
come oh so like a train into me
start her harm
what do i make of you
i tell you i make nothing at all
so i offer that do this you did
you get your time
and left you there standing
i look like a fool
but do you salt
when you shed those tears
falls it ever worse been shed
i will not swim in the river then
crazy
once to get by
i tell you you're crazy
if you think that'll fly please
you got more time i said
i wanna give the bone
you say well i take it back to the top
you say you wanna start again
i say no way no way
but you convince me again
you get me back there
oh just one time
i'd like to be standing staring at you
broken from myself
you're crazy
once you get by
i tell you you're crazy
you wanna live this lie again
i tell you you're crazy babe
if you think that'll fly
oh i tell you you got to be crazy
if you think that'll fly
i'll try to get tied
Lyrics submitted by jfleming40
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My god.....I adore this song.
In a related story: I am so pissed off that it didn't make Stand Up. I'm equally pissed that there isn't a decent-quality recording of this song live. I'd be perfectly content with one live copy of this song that was professionally recorded and mastered by DMB's crew.
But, my life is a never-ending shit-spiral, so there is no such copy....that I'm aware of.