"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.
A long stretch of headlights
Bends into I-9
Tiptoe into truck stops
And sleepy diesel eyes
Volcanoes rumble in the taxi
And glow in the dark
Camels in the driver's seat
A slow, easy mark
But you ran out of gas
Down the road a piece
Then the battery went dead
And now the cable won't reach...
It's your last chance
To check under the hood
Last chance
She ain't soundin' too good,
Your last chance
To trust the man with the star
You've found the last chance Texaco
Well, he tried to be Standard
He tries to be Mobil
He tried living in a world
And in a shell
There was this block-busted blonde
He loved her - free parts and labor
But she broke down and died
And threw all the rods he gave her
But this one ain't fuel-injected
Her plug's disconnected
She gets scared and she stalls
She just needs a man, that's all
It's her last chance
Her timing's all wrong
Her last chance
She can't idle this long
Her last chance
Turn her over and go
Pullin' out of the last chance Texaco
The last chance
Bends into I-9
Tiptoe into truck stops
And sleepy diesel eyes
Volcanoes rumble in the taxi
And glow in the dark
Camels in the driver's seat
A slow, easy mark
But you ran out of gas
Down the road a piece
Then the battery went dead
And now the cable won't reach...
It's your last chance
To check under the hood
Last chance
She ain't soundin' too good,
Your last chance
To trust the man with the star
You've found the last chance Texaco
Well, he tried to be Standard
He tries to be Mobil
He tried living in a world
And in a shell
There was this block-busted blonde
He loved her - free parts and labor
But she broke down and died
And threw all the rods he gave her
But this one ain't fuel-injected
Her plug's disconnected
She gets scared and she stalls
She just needs a man, that's all
It's her last chance
Her timing's all wrong
Her last chance
She can't idle this long
Her last chance
Turn her over and go
Pullin' out of the last chance Texaco
The last chance
Lyrics submitted by androgybunny, edited by mcouzijn
The Last Chance Texaco Lyrics as written by Rickie Lee Jones
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song has such a wonderful vocal performance by Rickie. The song is again an example of the lyrics not really being all that important to total experience. I really don’t know what this song is about but I think this song uses references to vehicle repair or maintenance as a metaphor for fixing or acquiring a relationship. I am always amused by the line “trust the man with the star” because it refers to the old Texaco TV commercials.