"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.
Some people tell me
The blues ain't bad,
But, I've never know anything
Make me feel so sad
Running on empty, hurting to the core,
When everything don't mean nothing any more
From a distance
Every little thing looks fine,
But, the closer you get
You see the make up,
Cracked and lined
Somewhere there's a rainbow
With a pot of gold,
But, by the time you get there
It's been taken and sold
So I keep saying, baby
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
In my room
There are no shadows in the wall,
'Cause I closed up the window
So no light gets in at all.
It's a bad situation,
With no end in sight,
A heartache deep as the ocean
And darker than the night
So I keep saying to you, baby,
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
With no one to lean on
You pray to the Lord above,
But, we keep hurting each other
In the name of love
All in the name of love
With no one to lean on
You pray to the Lord above,
But, we keep hurting each other
In the name of love
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
All in the name of love
The blues ain't bad,
But, I've never know anything
Make me feel so sad
Running on empty, hurting to the core,
When everything don't mean nothing any more
From a distance
Every little thing looks fine,
But, the closer you get
You see the make up,
Cracked and lined
Somewhere there's a rainbow
With a pot of gold,
But, by the time you get there
It's been taken and sold
So I keep saying, baby
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
In my room
There are no shadows in the wall,
'Cause I closed up the window
So no light gets in at all.
It's a bad situation,
With no end in sight,
A heartache deep as the ocean
And darker than the night
So I keep saying to you, baby,
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
With no one to lean on
You pray to the Lord above,
But, we keep hurting each other
In the name of love
All in the name of love
With no one to lean on
You pray to the Lord above,
But, we keep hurting each other
In the name of love
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
All in the name of love,
It's all in the name of love, my friend,
All in the name of love
We all suffer in the end
All in the name of love
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