"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.
The start is the hardest part
To step inside and announce a newly broken heart
And Louise, you’re ill at ease
You bite your thumb and tug your skirt below your knees
And it hurts even more than you thought
The words get caught
And sad as you are, you’re glad of the wine you brought
I’ve no idea what you need to hear
My mother used to say “there’s always next year”
But please don’t despair, Louise
Today will end and your heart will mend, if by degrees
And it hurts even more than you thought
And it feels like forever just now
But one day you’ll look back on this
As a hiccup in your happiness...
To step inside and announce a newly broken heart
And Louise, you’re ill at ease
You bite your thumb and tug your skirt below your knees
And it hurts even more than you thought
The words get caught
And sad as you are, you’re glad of the wine you brought
I’ve no idea what you need to hear
My mother used to say “there’s always next year”
But please don’t despair, Louise
Today will end and your heart will mend, if by degrees
And it hurts even more than you thought
And it feels like forever just now
But one day you’ll look back on this
As a hiccup in your happiness...
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry
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Fast Car
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Louise is my middle name, so this song has a kind of personal message, and was a bit of a theme song for me when me and him broke up. I have a Lucksmiths t-shirt with a picture of Louise on the front (or at least i think it is, a girl looking sad holding a bottle of wine)