"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 came home from college to see my old man
He was sittin' on the porch swing, with a book in his hand
He stared at my earring, and at my tattoo
He smiled and shook his head and said
It's good to see you
He chose his words carefully cause it was hard for me to come
And he knew I had ta temper and where I got it from
I waited for the sermon, the one I knew so well
But this time he wasn't preachin'
About heaven or hell
He said a real man knows the value of a woman
A real man has got nothin to prove
He's strenthened by love
And the Lord up above
So do the best that you can
To be a real man
Could it be that I saw just a glimpse of his soul
Or maybe losin' Mama had just taken it's toll
He gave me his Bible, stained with tears he had cried
And I opened up the cover
Where he wrote inside
And it said
A real man has got nothin to prove
He's strenthened by love
And the Lord up above
So do the best that you can
To be a real man
Do the best that you can
To be a real man
He was sittin' on the porch swing, with a book in his hand
He stared at my earring, and at my tattoo
He smiled and shook his head and said
It's good to see you
He chose his words carefully cause it was hard for me to come
And he knew I had ta temper and where I got it from
I waited for the sermon, the one I knew so well
But this time he wasn't preachin'
About heaven or hell
He said a real man knows the value of a woman
A real man has got nothin to prove
He's strenthened by love
And the Lord up above
So do the best that you can
To be a real man
Could it be that I saw just a glimpse of his soul
Or maybe losin' Mama had just taken it's toll
He gave me his Bible, stained with tears he had cried
And I opened up the cover
Where he wrote inside
And it said
A real man has got nothin to prove
He's strenthened by love
And the Lord up above
So do the best that you can
To be a real man
Do the best that you can
To be a real man
Lyrics submitted by SMUSER17024245
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