"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.
Here we go again
The silence between us defends each others fear of a broken heart
The awkward dance we do
The covered pain it shows through the damaging moves we made from the very start
Now I wont be the blame
And maybe you wont feel the same
[Chorus]
Here comes a release, again
So nice to to play pretend
This doesn't have to be love's end
Its more than you'll ever know
Lonely eyes I see looking back at me
This mirror hides the life we've never known
How did we get to this?
The absence of any bliss
I didn't know your hear was out on a loan
It's time we walked away
These are the hardest things to say
[Chorus: x2]
The silence between us defends each others fear of a broken heart
The awkward dance we do
The covered pain it shows through the damaging moves we made from the very start
Now I wont be the blame
And maybe you wont feel the same
[Chorus]
Here comes a release, again
So nice to to play pretend
This doesn't have to be love's end
Its more than you'll ever know
Lonely eyes I see looking back at me
This mirror hides the life we've never known
How did we get to this?
The absence of any bliss
I didn't know your hear was out on a loan
It's time we walked away
These are the hardest things to say
[Chorus: x2]
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Fast Car
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