"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.
They had 'er last supper the day of the beaching
She's a dead ship sailin', skeleton crew
The galley is empty, the stove pots are cloolin'
With what's left of the stew?
The time is approachin', the captain moves over
The hangman steps in to do what he's paid for
With the wind and the tide she goes proud ahead, steamin'
And he drives 'er hard into the shore
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
As if to a wave from her bows to her rudder
Bravely she rises to meet with the land
Under their feet, they all feel her keel shudder
The shallow sea washes their hands
Later the captain shakes hands with the hangman
He climbs slowly down to the oily wet ground
Goes back to the car that has come here to take him
Through the graveyard and back to the town
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
They pull out her cables and hack off her hatches
Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time
They swarm on her carcass with torches and axes
Like a whale on the bloody shoreline
Stripped off her pillars her stays and her stanchions
When there's only her bones on the wet poison land
Steel ropes will drag her with winches and engines
'Til there's only a stain on the sand
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
She's a dead ship sailin', skeleton crew
The galley is empty, the stove pots are cloolin'
With what's left of the stew?
The time is approachin', the captain moves over
The hangman steps in to do what he's paid for
With the wind and the tide she goes proud ahead, steamin'
And he drives 'er hard into the shore
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
As if to a wave from her bows to her rudder
Bravely she rises to meet with the land
Under their feet, they all feel her keel shudder
The shallow sea washes their hands
Later the captain shakes hands with the hangman
He climbs slowly down to the oily wet ground
Goes back to the car that has come here to take him
Through the graveyard and back to the town
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
They pull out her cables and hack off her hatches
Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time
They swarm on her carcass with torches and axes
Like a whale on the bloody shoreline
Stripped off her pillars her stays and her stanchions
When there's only her bones on the wet poison land
Steel ropes will drag her with winches and engines
'Til there's only a stain on the sand
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
So far from the Clyde
Together we'd ride, we did ride
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
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Brilliant song, but there are a lot of mistakes in the lyrics above.
They had a last supper the day of the beaching, She's a dead ship sailing, skeleton crew. The galley is empty, the stove pots are cooling What's left of the stew.
The time is approaching - the captain moves over. The hang man steps in to do what he's paid for. With the wind and the tide, she goes proud ahead steaming. And he drives her hard into the shore.
So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride.
As if to a wave from her bows to her rudder, Bravely she rises to meet with the land. Under their feet they all feel her keel shudder; The shallow sea washes her (?) hands.
Later, the captain shakes hands with the hangman And climbs slowly down to the oily wet ground, Goes 'bout to the car that has come here to take him Through the graveyard and back to the town
So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride.
They pull out her cables and hack off her hatches. Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time, They swarm on her carcass with torches and axes Like a whale on the bloody shore line. Stripped of her pillars, her stays and her stanchions, When there's only her bones on the wet poison land Steel ropes will drag her with winches and engines Till there's only a stain on the sand.
So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride. So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride...
Can't edit my post, but it sounds like "The shallow sea washes her hands" should be definitely be "their". Makes more sense that way, anyway... : )