"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.
Talk to me
Tell me your name
You blow me off like it's all the same
You lit a fuse and now I'm ticking away
Like a bomb, yeah, baby
Talk to me
Tell me your sign
You're switching sides like a Gemini
You're playing games and now you're hittin' my heart
Like a drum, yeah, baby
Well, if Lady Luck gets on my side
We're gonna rock this town alive
I'll let her rough me up
'Til she knocks me out
'Cause she walks like she talks
And she talks like she walks
She bangs, she bangs
Oh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
Talk to me
Tell me your name
I'm just a link in your daisy chain
Your rap sounds like a diamond map
To the stars, yeah, baby
Talk to me
Tell me the news
You wear me out like a pair of shoes
We'll dance until the band goes home
Then you're gone, yeah, baby
Well, if it looks like love should be a crime
Then better lock me up for life
I'll do the time with a smile on my face
Thinking of her in her leather and lace
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
And if Lady Luck gets on my side
We're gonna rock this town alive
I'll let her rough me up
'Til she knocks me out
'Cause she walks like she talks
And she talks like she walks
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
She bangs, she bangs
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
She moves, she moves
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
She bangs, she bangs
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
She moves, she moves
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
Tell me your name
You blow me off like it's all the same
You lit a fuse and now I'm ticking away
Like a bomb, yeah, baby
Talk to me
Tell me your sign
You're switching sides like a Gemini
You're playing games and now you're hittin' my heart
Like a drum, yeah, baby
Well, if Lady Luck gets on my side
We're gonna rock this town alive
I'll let her rough me up
'Til she knocks me out
'Cause she walks like she talks
And she talks like she walks
She bangs, she bangs
Oh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
Talk to me
Tell me your name
I'm just a link in your daisy chain
Your rap sounds like a diamond map
To the stars, yeah, baby
Talk to me
Tell me the news
You wear me out like a pair of shoes
We'll dance until the band goes home
Then you're gone, yeah, baby
Well, if it looks like love should be a crime
Then better lock me up for life
I'll do the time with a smile on my face
Thinking of her in her leather and lace
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
And if Lady Luck gets on my side
We're gonna rock this town alive
I'll let her rough me up
'Til she knocks me out
'Cause she walks like she talks
And she talks like she walks
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind
She bangs, she bangs
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
She moves, she moves
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
She bangs, she bangs
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
She moves, she moves
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
She bangs, she bangs
Ooh baby, when she moves, she moves
I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower
But she stings like a bee
Like every girl in history
She bangs, she bangs
I'm wasted by the way she moves (she moves)
No one ever looked so fine
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