"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.
Tired of looking sideways
But the things in black and white
No more, no more
Arguing my case to the wee hours of the night
What for? What for? What for?
Put it in your face and let the petals fall
Cursing your family name
Rather be unhappy that's the cause of it all
Panicked and hateful, with nothing to blame
That's a useful dream that pretended to explain
But no more, no more, no more
Superstition in the image of
One I already believe
Easier to use because I made it up to deal with the same things
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing's in black and white
What for? What for? What for?
But the things in black and white
No more, no more
Arguing my case to the wee hours of the night
What for? What for? What for?
Put it in your face and let the petals fall
Cursing your family name
Rather be unhappy that's the cause of it all
Panicked and hateful, with nothing to blame
That's a useful dream that pretended to explain
But no more, no more, no more
Superstition in the image of
One I already believe
Easier to use because I made it up to deal with the same things
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing's in black and white
What for? What for? What for?
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i think its about how someone can place a bet on supperstitions. whats the point