"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.
Go slow
Cruel to himself and generous about it
Cruel to the world, not hard to spot it
Can't give up, shut up on a tirade
Off the top of his head, so ripe becoming rotten
He's hit the wailing wall
To pass out hard upon
He's kissed the wailing wall
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Failed his name, no care to hide it
Failed escape that's documented
Instilled or distilled, the spike or the chill
It's immolation, the **** of nonexistence
He's hit the wailing wall
To pass out hard upon
He's kissed the wailing wall
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Headstone tells nothing about him
Headstone reads two decades wasted
A funeral pyre, no one to burn it
Because self-destruction brings misfortune
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
No lower heaven for his bones
Nor handing life back what it's owed
Caretaker careless, what he's sown
Porously reaching his lowest low
The negative has just begun
Joining the war, impossible
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Cruel to himself and generous about it
Cruel to the world, not hard to spot it
Can't give up, shut up on a tirade
Off the top of his head, so ripe becoming rotten
He's hit the wailing wall
To pass out hard upon
He's kissed the wailing wall
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Failed his name, no care to hide it
Failed escape that's documented
Instilled or distilled, the spike or the chill
It's immolation, the **** of nonexistence
He's hit the wailing wall
To pass out hard upon
He's kissed the wailing wall
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Headstone tells nothing about him
Headstone reads two decades wasted
A funeral pyre, no one to burn it
Because self-destruction brings misfortune
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
No lower heaven for his bones
Nor handing life back what it's owed
Caretaker careless, what he's sown
Porously reaching his lowest low
The negative has just begun
Joining the war, impossible
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
In the thrall of it all
Lyrics submitted by BobbyjointRitual
In the Thrall of It All Lyrics as written by Kirk Windstein Jimmy Bower
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this is most likely about Nathan Gale, but it could also have been written about Dimebag (before his death) or about Phil himself...
Probably only Phil knows...great track though.
I think it's about Phil
I see it as a song about nathan gale, Phil clearly mentions some bad attributes (like hitting the wall, self destruction)
of course if you see this you can think it's about Phil, but he says "two decades wasted"
1 Nathan gale was in his 20's (2 decades) 2 Phil's life didn't go downward in 2 decades but only 6 years (1995-2001)
also, he sings "no lower heaven for his bones" meaning this person doesn't go to heaven, this could be only done by committing a crime... like killing someone