"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.
I hear voices in the night
Whispers drowning out my dreams as they come floating by
You never trust a lonely heart
Opens its mouth and you can't stop it once it starts
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
I see angels in the streets
Kisses billow from the smoking grates on Gramercy
You build these walls around your heart
But they're filled with holes that you don't notice till it's dark
Until they're blowing you apart
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
And I was doing alright out on my own
Now I'm checking my watch wondering if you're home
And the friends that I had always seemed enough
Now I'm leaving places early just to call you up
And I will run
I will hide
But every time I close my eyes
There's only one word kicking round my brain
It's your name
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
Whispers drowning out my dreams as they come floating by
You never trust a lonely heart
Opens its mouth and you can't stop it once it starts
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
I see angels in the streets
Kisses billow from the smoking grates on Gramercy
You build these walls around your heart
But they're filled with holes that you don't notice till it's dark
Until they're blowing you apart
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
And I was doing alright out on my own
Now I'm checking my watch wondering if you're home
And the friends that I had always seemed enough
Now I'm leaving places early just to call you up
And I will run
I will hide
But every time I close my eyes
There's only one word kicking round my brain
It's your name
So I'll try not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you
Try to think of nothing at all
Gonna get some sleep and dream of no one in particular
Not to listen tonight every time I hear
I miss you now
But I begin to believe somehow
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