"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 swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong, now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds the blackened tear, oh
And I am cold
Yes I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away
You walking away
I love the sound of you walking away
Walking away, hey, hey
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
No buildings will fall down
Don't you walk away
No quake will split the ground
Won't you walk away
The sun won't swallow the sky
Won't you walk away
Statues will not cry
Don't you walk away
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
I cannot stand to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong, stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away
You walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye, oh
And I'm not cold, I am old
At least as old as you are
And as you walk away
Oh as you walk away
And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down
As you walk away
The Hollywood wind's a howl
As you walk away
The Kremlin's falling
As you walk away
Radio Four is static
As you walk away
Oh as you walk away
Oh as you walk away
Oh as you walk away, hey
The stab of stiletto
On a silent night
Stalin smiles and Hitler laughs
Churchill claps Mao Tse-Tung on the back
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong, now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds the blackened tear, oh
And I am cold
Yes I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away
You walking away
I love the sound of you walking away
Walking away, hey, hey
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
No buildings will fall down
Don't you walk away
No quake will split the ground
Won't you walk away
The sun won't swallow the sky
Won't you walk away
Statues will not cry
Don't you walk away
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
I cannot stand to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong, stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away
You walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye, oh
And I'm not cold, I am old
At least as old as you are
And as you walk away
Oh as you walk away
And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down
As you walk away
The Hollywood wind's a howl
As you walk away
The Kremlin's falling
As you walk away
Radio Four is static
As you walk away
Oh as you walk away
Oh as you walk away
Oh as you walk away, hey
The stab of stiletto
On a silent night
Stalin smiles and Hitler laughs
Churchill claps Mao Tse-Tung on the back
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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"Do you know who Franz Ferdinand was? Check in your favourite search engine :) I wonder why they chose this name. Has anybody got any clue?"
I think it was a bunch of different things, but mainly because this little-known archduke called Franz Ferdinand got shot and all of a sudden it was a HUGE deal and he ignited the already brewing WWI. They think that if they can have that kind of effect in the world they've basically done their job. No one will forget Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They think it'll be really cool if, when someone mentions Franz Ferdinand, people think of the band first and the duke second.
There was also something about a horserace involved, but I don't think I'll go into that.
As for the "stab of stilettos" the first thing I think of is yeah, the girl walking away in a pair of heels. But I think it'd be COOLER if they actually meant the stiletto knife. I like how we think of shoes before weapons when people mention stilettos. However in this song stiletto is plural, likely meaning shoes although it is possible that it all ends in murder and evil (Hitler and co.) with two knives. A bit of a stretch, but surely open to interpretation?