"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.
Softened by something, the darkness is done
The moon can speak to the wind
She flows on so quiet, the tide having turned
What was brittle and broken now burned
I notice a change in your eyes
The stars in the river are dying
No longer cold, finally able to catch
The ghosts flying into the night
Arise, flying into the
Falling into the night
Arise, falling into the
Flying into the night
Time of forgiveness upon us at last
The wind sighs a prayer to the sun
Woven as quiet, as clouds move above
The stars shine together as one
The moon can speak to the wind
She flows on so quiet, the tide having turned
What was brittle and broken now burned
I notice a change in your eyes
The stars in the river are dying
No longer cold, finally able to catch
The ghosts flying into the night
Arise, flying into the
Falling into the night
Arise, falling into the
Flying into the night
Time of forgiveness upon us at last
The wind sighs a prayer to the sun
Woven as quiet, as clouds move above
The stars shine together as one
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Evan Dando has such a good voice for this song. I don't know what its about, but its very soothing... or perhaps a little creepy. I'm not sure how much of his stuff he actually writes, but he's a damn good performer.
Yeah, he's great. He did wrote it himself, together with Patrick Doyle