"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.
Let's go
Counting the stars inside my head
Til none are left except the dead
That pull me in with all that's left
Of everything I thought I had
And right when I thought I was done
You told me that you'd be the one
To wake me when I reached the sun
But then you didn't stay
You left me more cynical than you found me
So what now
You kept me from falling
Now you're leaving me behind
By why now
Right when I need you the most
Will you walk away without a word
Not dead or gone but not more than a ghost
Reaching behind me every night
Not for a blanket or a light
But someone, I know it's not right
To wish was right besides me
And futile as I know it is
To not just hope but pray for this
That just one day the rain will miss your head
And you'll remember what I did
And just tell me how I should've been different
So what now
You kept me from falling
Now you're leaving me behind?
By why now
Right when I need you the most
Will you walk away without a word
Not dead or gone but not more than a ghost
You'll never know how much it meant
To hear you say, let's write our names in the cement
You'll never know how much it hurt
To learn you can't trust what you've heard
If you can't see it, don't believe it
Don't believe it
Counting the stars inside my head
Til none are left except the dead
That pull me in with all that's left
Of everything I thought I had
Now none are left except the dead
Now none are left except the dead
Now none are left except the dead
And you're nothing but a
Nothing but a ghost
Counting the stars inside my head
Til none are left except the dead
That pull me in with all that's left
Of everything I thought I had
And right when I thought I was done
You told me that you'd be the one
To wake me when I reached the sun
But then you didn't stay
You left me more cynical than you found me
So what now
You kept me from falling
Now you're leaving me behind
By why now
Right when I need you the most
Will you walk away without a word
Not dead or gone but not more than a ghost
Reaching behind me every night
Not for a blanket or a light
But someone, I know it's not right
To wish was right besides me
And futile as I know it is
To not just hope but pray for this
That just one day the rain will miss your head
And you'll remember what I did
And just tell me how I should've been different
So what now
You kept me from falling
Now you're leaving me behind?
By why now
Right when I need you the most
Will you walk away without a word
Not dead or gone but not more than a ghost
You'll never know how much it meant
To hear you say, let's write our names in the cement
You'll never know how much it hurt
To learn you can't trust what you've heard
If you can't see it, don't believe it
Don't believe it
Counting the stars inside my head
Til none are left except the dead
That pull me in with all that's left
Of everything I thought I had
Now none are left except the dead
Now none are left except the dead
Now none are left except the dead
And you're nothing but a
Nothing but a ghost
Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11
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