"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.
Wish everybody would leave me alone -yeah
They're always calling on my telephone
When I pick it up there's no one there
So I walk outside just to take the air
Come on with me cruising down the street
Who knows what you'll see, who you might meet
This brave new world's not like yesterday
It can take you higher than the milky way
Now I'm blinded I can't really see, yeah
No more bright lights confusing me, no
Don't ask me why I'm feeling blue
'Cause loving you is all I can do
Hey good-looking boys, gather around
The sidewalk papers gutter-press you down
All those lies can be so unkind,
They can make you feel like you're losing your mind
Street Life
Street Life
Street Life
What a Life
Back to nature boys, Vasser girls too
Watch what you say, or think, or do
Continental-style strasse girls might
But you know exactly if it's wrong or right
Education is an important key, yes
But the good life's never won by degrees, no
Pointless passing through Harvard or Yale
Only window shopping, it's strictly no sale
Week end starts Friday soon after eight
Your jet black magic helps you celebrate
You may be stranded if you stick around
And that's really something
They're always calling on my telephone
When I pick it up there's no one there
So I walk outside just to take the air
Come on with me cruising down the street
Who knows what you'll see, who you might meet
This brave new world's not like yesterday
It can take you higher than the milky way
Now I'm blinded I can't really see, yeah
No more bright lights confusing me, no
Don't ask me why I'm feeling blue
'Cause loving you is all I can do
Hey good-looking boys, gather around
The sidewalk papers gutter-press you down
All those lies can be so unkind,
They can make you feel like you're losing your mind
Street Life
Street Life
Street Life
What a Life
Back to nature boys, Vasser girls too
Watch what you say, or think, or do
Continental-style strasse girls might
But you know exactly if it's wrong or right
Education is an important key, yes
But the good life's never won by degrees, no
Pointless passing through Harvard or Yale
Only window shopping, it's strictly no sale
Week end starts Friday soon after eight
Your jet black magic helps you celebrate
You may be stranded if you stick around
And that's really something
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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It's worth pointing out that Ferry loves paradoxical language and puns, and the line should be, 'Now I'm blinded I CAN really see, yeah ...'. Not 'can't'. The blind seer, the vision through the chaos, the living. Quite similar to 'New Town' from the 'Bete Noir' album, the need to experience life to see past it.