"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.
May your dad rest well down in hell tonight
I never liked him much, but he gave me a bite of his hot dog
When we went golfing
In San Clemente
With Richard Nixon
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
Well I'm bored with iran and I'm bored with Iraq
Egypt and Israel and Yassir Arafat
The Falklands was cool but it was too damn short
I want a real war 'cause I built a bitchin' fort
May your sister rest well in her bed tonight
I never liked her much, but she made me feel good last Christmas
In your mom's station wagon
Behind 7-11
She was just fourteen
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
Well I'm bored with the contras and Colonel Quadhafi
The ayatollah's dead, but he made really great coffee
With my rifle in my arms I feel really swell
I wanna join the army and kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill
May your uncle rest well in his cell tonight
I never liked him much but he took me down to Tijuana
We drank tequila
And watched your mom dance
At the bambi club
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
I never liked him much, but he gave me a bite of his hot dog
When we went golfing
In San Clemente
With Richard Nixon
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
Well I'm bored with iran and I'm bored with Iraq
Egypt and Israel and Yassir Arafat
The Falklands was cool but it was too damn short
I want a real war 'cause I built a bitchin' fort
May your sister rest well in her bed tonight
I never liked her much, but she made me feel good last Christmas
In your mom's station wagon
Behind 7-11
She was just fourteen
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
Well I'm bored with the contras and Colonel Quadhafi
The ayatollah's dead, but he made really great coffee
With my rifle in my arms I feel really swell
I wanna join the army and kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill
May your uncle rest well in his cell tonight
I never liked him much but he took me down to Tijuana
We drank tequila
And watched your mom dance
At the bambi club
But I was bored
So I prayed to the lord
Ha, give me a war
'Cause I'm so bored
And I want more
In a real fucking war
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