"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.
We've got amnesia from the slightest problems
you start shaking
and you start talking
takes more than working now to keep you from falling
'cause work is starting and things are falling
I'm in a real good place
to light out without leaving a trace
you said i was the only one
now i just don't know whats going on
we don't get out
very much
we don't get out
very much
I'm afraid were loosing touch with our balled up little crowd
when we get out and get drunk
and we get high and don't talk
we just walk and walk and walk until we find ourselves alone
but at least we've got each other
it's not so bad if you can't remember
this is just an excuse for something
we have got amnesia from the slightest problems
you start shaking and you start talking
alone where i can't be you
alone where i can't be you
i don't think a lot about you
I've been thinking a lot about you
you start shaking
and you start talking
takes more than working now to keep you from falling
'cause work is starting and things are falling
I'm in a real good place
to light out without leaving a trace
you said i was the only one
now i just don't know whats going on
we don't get out
very much
we don't get out
very much
I'm afraid were loosing touch with our balled up little crowd
when we get out and get drunk
and we get high and don't talk
we just walk and walk and walk until we find ourselves alone
but at least we've got each other
it's not so bad if you can't remember
this is just an excuse for something
we have got amnesia from the slightest problems
you start shaking and you start talking
alone where i can't be you
alone where i can't be you
i don't think a lot about you
I've been thinking a lot about you
Lyrics submitted by jasono52
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Fast Car
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I see it as a post-breakup song, definitely. It makes me think of a couple that were great friends and dated despite knowing there were some things that wouldn't work out, and now keep trying to make it work despite past experience ("we've got amnesia from the slightest problems") and have tried to stay friends but their group is sort of falling apart, everything they do is hollow - "we get high and don't talk"
They're stuck in a rut and can't get past each other.