"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.
well i came to the station
and there's blood on the tracks
and i threw my record player
yeah to london bridge and back
and i saw you on the stage
singing songs we used to play
and i know he's grown his hair out
but he still don't look like me
yeah but i know that you were listening
cuz i heard it in your song
said i may be moving, baby,
but i ain't moving on
and i could sing you a lullaby
that i made up in the dark
but you know that i changed
i would rather sing yours
yeah cuz honey they don't make 'em
with their voices still shaking anymore
and the whistling of the boxcars
threw me out into the wind
and it was cold in san francisco
and i was thinking back to when
yeah when you dropped me down by the water
and you danced on the golden gate
and i was thinking about a love we had
yes and a love that we used to make
and i saw you up in washington
with your new boy at the gate
said i may be settling baby
but i'm settling this
and you told me you couldn't wait on me
any longer to decide
well that may be true
but its no excuse for you to lie
this ain't no room with a view
its just a fancy waste for you to run and hide
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to mind it at all
well i threw my glass out on main street
started a fire in central park
yes but the crowd that i was hoping for
they just vanished in the dark
so i walked around the corner
yeah with the crazies on the street
and i saw a girl who looked just like you
she had no shoes upon her feet
and she told me that you were from angels
and they told her what to do
said they may be talking, baby
but they ain't talking to you
and they told her that she could fly
if she jumped off a building that was high
you know, that may be the last thing that she said
still i wish that you would have listened
to every voice that creeps inside the head
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to mind it at all
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to care at all
and there's blood on the tracks
and i threw my record player
yeah to london bridge and back
and i saw you on the stage
singing songs we used to play
and i know he's grown his hair out
but he still don't look like me
yeah but i know that you were listening
cuz i heard it in your song
said i may be moving, baby,
but i ain't moving on
and i could sing you a lullaby
that i made up in the dark
but you know that i changed
i would rather sing yours
yeah cuz honey they don't make 'em
with their voices still shaking anymore
and the whistling of the boxcars
threw me out into the wind
and it was cold in san francisco
and i was thinking back to when
yeah when you dropped me down by the water
and you danced on the golden gate
and i was thinking about a love we had
yes and a love that we used to make
and i saw you up in washington
with your new boy at the gate
said i may be settling baby
but i'm settling this
and you told me you couldn't wait on me
any longer to decide
well that may be true
but its no excuse for you to lie
this ain't no room with a view
its just a fancy waste for you to run and hide
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to mind it at all
well i threw my glass out on main street
started a fire in central park
yes but the crowd that i was hoping for
they just vanished in the dark
so i walked around the corner
yeah with the crazies on the street
and i saw a girl who looked just like you
she had no shoes upon her feet
and she told me that you were from angels
and they told her what to do
said they may be talking, baby
but they ain't talking to you
and they told her that she could fly
if she jumped off a building that was high
you know, that may be the last thing that she said
still i wish that you would have listened
to every voice that creeps inside the head
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to mind it at all
and the last clock on the wall
well she's starting to fall
yeah but no one seems to care at all
Lyrics submitted by saraoveranalyzes
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