"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.
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Fictitious styles of living
We've expected to work
But this is all your giving
Half of what your worth
Pigeon hold in battles
Overtones of snow in her clutch
Falling through lines
One more breath destroys
The best of you
The death of you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
A precious gift embedded
Deep within your skin
But parasitic pleasures
Are closer than kin
Please expose your shadows
Such concerns are products of love
Falling in lies
One more fraud destroys
Our trust in you
Our love for you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
As you kiss the abstract
And pray it's everything you'd hoped for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
The smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Lucifer
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Fictitious styles of living
We've expected to work
But this is all your giving
Half of what your worth
Pigeon hold in battles
Overtones of snow in her clutch
Falling through lines
One more breath destroys
The best of you
The death of you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
A precious gift embedded
Deep within your skin
But parasitic pleasures
Are closer than kin
Please expose your shadows
Such concerns are products of love
Falling in lies
One more fraud destroys
Our trust in you
Our love for you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
As you kiss the abstract
And pray it's everything you'd hoped for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
The smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Lucifer
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Fast Car
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Great version of a great song,
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digitalimpulse I think you hit it on the nose. I couldn't have put it better myself. It's got to be about a guy who becomes pussy whipped, and he lets his friendships, job, and everything else go to shit for her.