"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 day's last one-way ticket train pulls in
We smile for the casual closure capturing
There goes the downpour
There goes my fare thee well
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
There's so many words that we can say
Spoken upon long-distance melody
This is my hello
This is my goodness
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
Maybe in five or ten
Yours and mine will meet again
Straighten this whole thing out
Maybe then honesty need not be feared as a friend or an enemy
But this is the distance
And this is my game face
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
Is there really no way to reach me?
Am I already gone?
So this is your maverick
And this is Vienna
We smile for the casual closure capturing
There goes the downpour
There goes my fare thee well
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
There's so many words that we can say
Spoken upon long-distance melody
This is my hello
This is my goodness
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
Maybe in five or ten
Yours and mine will meet again
Straighten this whole thing out
Maybe then honesty need not be feared as a friend or an enemy
But this is the distance
And this is my game face
There's really no way to reach me
There's really no way to reach me
Is there really no way to reach me?
Am I already gone?
So this is your maverick
And this is Vienna
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I totally agree. Both fantastic movies, but this song seems to compliment the scene in "Before Sunrise" where Jesse and Celine are saying their good-byes at one of Vienna's train stations. Spoilers ahead:
They had previously agreed not exchange information, in hopes of keeping their one perfect day together perfect. Thus, "There's really no way to reach me."
Of course, in the moment they're leaving, their hearts start screaming out about how naive that is and so they compromise and agree to meet again exactly in the same spot in exactly 5 years. In "Before Sunset" they do eventually meet again (10 years later) and discuss why the 5-year mark didn't happen. Hence, "Maybe in 5 or 10 years we'll meet again and straighten this whole thing out."
It's an excellent song either way. I've also considered that the narrator is simply referencing the movies in order to make the argument to the girl he's with that this is their "Vienna" moment. In that sense, the last line sounds more like "It's time to make a choice..."
I think I need to get my Netflix queued up...