"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.
Clarity just confuses me
The lines drawn on a map
A strange assembly
When there's northerners in southerners
And westenders in eastenders
And sunny days in January
Left spaces in my diary
But the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
Coz the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
Coz I know that
Apathy only ruined me
Hanging around waiting for calamity
And by the year four million
Our skins will be vermilion
I own a dartboard memory
So I'll forget any felony
But the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
[Bridge]
'Cause I know that you know that we know they don't know what's going on
And the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to read
What they never got around to write
A flirt with mediocrity
Comes with a heavy penalty
But the demons never need to read
What they never got around to write
A flirt with mediocrity
Comes with a heavy penalty
[Bridge]
'Cause I know that you know that we know they don't know what's going on
The lines drawn on a map
A strange assembly
When there's northerners in southerners
And westenders in eastenders
And sunny days in January
Left spaces in my diary
But the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
Coz the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
Coz I know that
Apathy only ruined me
Hanging around waiting for calamity
And by the year four million
Our skins will be vermilion
I own a dartboard memory
So I'll forget any felony
But the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
[Bridge]
'Cause I know that you know that we know they don't know what's going on
And the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to know
What the demons never got to see
As we fall in and out of line
Stay in touch now for a while
For the demons never need to read
What they never got around to write
A flirt with mediocrity
Comes with a heavy penalty
But the demons never need to read
What they never got around to write
A flirt with mediocrity
Comes with a heavy penalty
[Bridge]
'Cause I know that you know that we know they don't know what's going on
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I think this song is about society's (or perhaps his own) obsession with self-help and therapy and such. When he says "And the demons never need to know / What the demons never got to see" I think he means sometimes you should just try to live with your demons instead of wasting your life trying to solve all your problems. Because it's ultimately futile, and you wind up missing out on life if you're constantly looking to better yourself. In reality, there is no "clarity" as to what makes one person miserable or happy. It's much too esoteric to be able to understand with concrete information, like self-help books or gimmicky psychology theories.
My favourite bit is the first two verses, in particular: "And sunny days in January left spaces in my diary." which essentially means that it only took a nice day in the middle of winter to make him content, with no struggle to write about in his journal. I have to say that I relate immensely. I never write about the good things that happen to me, just the bad. I absolutely adore this song.