"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.
I was my parents' puppet 'till my teenage years
When I rebelled - and swapped them for my peers
I used to sit for hours all alone
Without an opinion to call my own
I had to keep this compulsion to myself
This need to be like everyone else
But now I'm out of the closet and I feel free
'Cos I Just saw Thunderbirds on T.V.
Yes I've been outed and I'm so happy
I've found a role model just for me
I think I could be like those puppet guys
There's less to them than meets the eye
Now I Don't have to worry about a thing
As long as someone else is pulling my strings
My pop star can tell me what to know
I can get my poilitical views from my youth radio
I can join the queues outside restaurant chains
Now I can do the Mexican wave
Just tell me what's in and I'll make sure I fit
Just herd me into that mosh pit
And sing if you're proud to be plastic now,
Cos Thunderbirds are coming out.
Lyrics submitted by caramelprisoner
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