"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.
My heart is learning
How to keep me on my feet
Every girl I see in town
Gives me the creeps
When her eyes to turn into mine
Then I'm running all the time
No, I don't want you
I just have one thing on my mind
My hands are learning
How to hold you by the waist
To pull you in just for a second
Get a taste
A little kiss but nothing more
Then I kick her out the door
No, I don't want you
I just don't want to go to waste
I'd be lying
If I say I'm not terrified
Every time I think someone
Is on my mind
You see, I might talk a big game
But it's still all just the same
No, I don't want you
I just need ways to pass the times
Maybe in time I'll forgive
Learn how to love
Give up the act, throw in the towel
Love someone
With the last piece of a heart
That's been all but torn apart
No, I don't want you
I just can't be the only one
She's a girl, delicate
Straight from the mold
She'll do her best, open me up
'Til she gets cold
And you'll be the one I keep
But you'll still be just a creep
No, I don't want you
I just don't want to die alone
How to keep me on my feet
Every girl I see in town
Gives me the creeps
When her eyes to turn into mine
Then I'm running all the time
No, I don't want you
I just have one thing on my mind
My hands are learning
How to hold you by the waist
To pull you in just for a second
Get a taste
A little kiss but nothing more
Then I kick her out the door
No, I don't want you
I just don't want to go to waste
I'd be lying
If I say I'm not terrified
Every time I think someone
Is on my mind
You see, I might talk a big game
But it's still all just the same
No, I don't want you
I just need ways to pass the times
Maybe in time I'll forgive
Learn how to love
Give up the act, throw in the towel
Love someone
With the last piece of a heart
That's been all but torn apart
No, I don't want you
I just can't be the only one
She's a girl, delicate
Straight from the mold
She'll do her best, open me up
'Til she gets cold
And you'll be the one I keep
But you'll still be just a creep
No, I don't want you
I just don't want to die alone
Lyrics submitted by BleedorBreathe
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