"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.
Store-bought attitude and spit
A sugar-coated piece of shit
An instant rebel, just add greed
Another useless commodity
Broken glass and a broken jaw
Lies are told in a southern drawl
Poor-house poverty's your shtick
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
Blood and fire used to fill the night
Burnt and drowned by our very lives
You missed a sinking boat by years
Dollar signs, crocodile tears
Its over now and long has been
Those days are gone won't come again
Another name crossed off the list
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
There's nothing for you to fight against
You're so unreal its evident
You'll never be one of our kind
This ain't yours, fuck you don't try
This bridge was burnt before you could cross
You reap the benefits of what's lost
Go home son, hang your costume up
A goddamn insult to the rest of us
A thousand-yard stare across the south
A full belly and a lying mouth
Momma's boy plays heretic
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
There's nothing for you to fight against
You're so unreal its evident
You'll never be one of our kind
This ain't yours, fuck you don't try
Fuck you, don't even try
Fuck you, your time is nigh
Fuck you, I've had enough
Fuck you, your time is up
A sugar-coated piece of shit
An instant rebel, just add greed
Another useless commodity
Broken glass and a broken jaw
Lies are told in a southern drawl
Poor-house poverty's your shtick
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
Blood and fire used to fill the night
Burnt and drowned by our very lives
You missed a sinking boat by years
Dollar signs, crocodile tears
Its over now and long has been
Those days are gone won't come again
Another name crossed off the list
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
There's nothing for you to fight against
You're so unreal its evident
You'll never be one of our kind
This ain't yours, fuck you don't try
This bridge was burnt before you could cross
You reap the benefits of what's lost
Go home son, hang your costume up
A goddamn insult to the rest of us
A thousand-yard stare across the south
A full belly and a lying mouth
Momma's boy plays heretic
The real thing would kill you quick
Rise, again we will rise
There's nothing for you to fight against
You're so unreal its evident
You'll never be one of our kind
This ain't yours, fuck you don't try
Fuck you, don't even try
Fuck you, your time is nigh
Fuck you, I've had enough
Fuck you, your time is up
Lyrics submitted by burnthepriest17
Again We Rise Lyrics as written by David Randall Blythe Chris Adler
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about people cashing in on the white-trash cliche, that's the impression I get right off the bat from the first verse.