"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.
Well, here I am, yeah, I’m back again
In a town that I used to called my residence
Now it seems like I live in a silver van
You might have seen it once, yeah, it’s parked out front
But homecoming used to be a sweet affair
I could swim into the arms of a lover there
Today there doesn’t seem to be a niche for me
Just a couch at Todd’s house, Jim Beam, and TV
But the house is empty
The shadows are growing tall
Against the bookshelves and the paintings
As dusk begins to fall
The city’s abandoned me
It’s forgotten who I am
The landscape changes shapes
Streets twist and bend until I’ve lost my direction
I woke up late to the sound of drums
So I headed downstairs to see what’s going on
Roger was playing to a metronome
He said, “It’s just not right, man, it’s got no soul”
I told him what my sister said in Chicago
“Boy, you’ve made a choice you’ve got to uphold
I know it might sound unbearable
When you chose to write, you chose to be alone”
So the house is empty
And that’s how it has to be
So I better not complain
I guess it’s best for me
But the city keeps haunting me
Like the house on Lafayette
It was built for World War vets
We laughed, we said, “How appropriate”
How appropriate
How appropriate
Who do you think of
When you think of the city?
Mostly I think of you
You’re the peanuts at their city
You’re the 2AB at Louie’s
You’re the Monday nights at Sullivan’s
You’re the Underground on Highland
You’re the dogtrack, you’re the Dubliner
You’re the 49er shuffleboard
You’re the big beer at the Underwood
You’re the brothers, you’re the drugstore
I miss this city, I miss this city
I miss this city, I miss this city
In a town that I used to called my residence
Now it seems like I live in a silver van
You might have seen it once, yeah, it’s parked out front
But homecoming used to be a sweet affair
I could swim into the arms of a lover there
Today there doesn’t seem to be a niche for me
Just a couch at Todd’s house, Jim Beam, and TV
But the house is empty
The shadows are growing tall
Against the bookshelves and the paintings
As dusk begins to fall
The city’s abandoned me
It’s forgotten who I am
The landscape changes shapes
Streets twist and bend until I’ve lost my direction
I woke up late to the sound of drums
So I headed downstairs to see what’s going on
Roger was playing to a metronome
He said, “It’s just not right, man, it’s got no soul”
I told him what my sister said in Chicago
“Boy, you’ve made a choice you’ve got to uphold
I know it might sound unbearable
When you chose to write, you chose to be alone”
So the house is empty
And that’s how it has to be
So I better not complain
I guess it’s best for me
But the city keeps haunting me
Like the house on Lafayette
It was built for World War vets
We laughed, we said, “How appropriate”
How appropriate
How appropriate
Who do you think of
When you think of the city?
Mostly I think of you
You’re the peanuts at their city
You’re the 2AB at Louie’s
You’re the Monday nights at Sullivan’s
You’re the Underground on Highland
You’re the dogtrack, you’re the Dubliner
You’re the 49er shuffleboard
You’re the big beer at the Underwood
You’re the brothers, you’re the drugstore
I miss this city, I miss this city
I miss this city, I miss this city
Lyrics submitted by myslumberingheart
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Fast Car
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no, the original poster was correct. it's JIM BEAM, as in the whiskey..