"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.
Ant check this out
I'm the luckiest son of a bitch that ever lived, I spend life doin' shit I love
Got the world's most beautiful kids and don't nobody do it like us
Sunday morning play Al Green, make pancakes and watch cartoons
Sometimes get to change that scene, catch a plane and see somewhere new
Just got married last year, treated so good that it ain't even fair
Already got a boy, now the baby girl's here, bought us a house like the Berenstain Bears
Not two years ago I was homeless, I mean crashin' on the couch of my homies
Now I'm crashin' on the couch with Conan, signed a mortgage and bought my home, shit
Should of seen when they handed me the keys, I still couldn't believe that it was mine
Like "baby hurry up let's leave, before these damn people change their mind"
Ha, and shit what can I say? I would have made these damn songs anyway
Some of y'all still listen to 'em everyday, beautiful thing, I bow my hand and pray
[Chorus: x2]
I love the life I live, my laughter and my tears
I don't know where it's goin' but I like it like it is
Uh, I get a lot of love in my hometown, twin cities, y'all know how it go down
Same club where Prince shot "Purple Rain", advertise my name and it's sold out
I'm surrounded by greatness, my loved ones are amazin'
Sometimes I look in their faces and just think of the lives they're changin'
And I don't just mean Rhymesayers, my son's grandmother quit freebasin'
Desiree got eight years straight, now that right there cause for celebration
Ah, I'm so happy for her, we used to fight like cats and dogs
But she ain't even mad that I left her daughter
she calls me her son, so that's my mama
[Chorus]
Ah, keep it goin' now
All my life I had this music, my heroes have all saluted
I don't need y'all to like my new shit, them dudes are the reason I do this
I done did so much cool shit, lived a lifetime in the last two years
Got the memories to prove it, look what a dude who ain't even graduate high school did
Ha, used to always be the new kid, laughed at 'cause I never used to pull chicks
Now I turn down more girls than them rich ass pitiful ball playin' fools get
Sometimes I smile so wide, I think about the dreams that I've lived
Shit even if I died tonight y'all, I'm the luckiest son bitch that ever lived
[Chorus]
I'm the luckiest son of a bitch that ever lived, I spend life doin' shit I love
Got the world's most beautiful kids and don't nobody do it like us
Sunday morning play Al Green, make pancakes and watch cartoons
Sometimes get to change that scene, catch a plane and see somewhere new
Just got married last year, treated so good that it ain't even fair
Already got a boy, now the baby girl's here, bought us a house like the Berenstain Bears
Not two years ago I was homeless, I mean crashin' on the couch of my homies
Now I'm crashin' on the couch with Conan, signed a mortgage and bought my home, shit
Should of seen when they handed me the keys, I still couldn't believe that it was mine
Like "baby hurry up let's leave, before these damn people change their mind"
Ha, and shit what can I say? I would have made these damn songs anyway
Some of y'all still listen to 'em everyday, beautiful thing, I bow my hand and pray
[Chorus: x2]
I love the life I live, my laughter and my tears
I don't know where it's goin' but I like it like it is
Uh, I get a lot of love in my hometown, twin cities, y'all know how it go down
Same club where Prince shot "Purple Rain", advertise my name and it's sold out
I'm surrounded by greatness, my loved ones are amazin'
Sometimes I look in their faces and just think of the lives they're changin'
And I don't just mean Rhymesayers, my son's grandmother quit freebasin'
Desiree got eight years straight, now that right there cause for celebration
Ah, I'm so happy for her, we used to fight like cats and dogs
But she ain't even mad that I left her daughter
she calls me her son, so that's my mama
[Chorus]
Ah, keep it goin' now
All my life I had this music, my heroes have all saluted
I don't need y'all to like my new shit, them dudes are the reason I do this
I done did so much cool shit, lived a lifetime in the last two years
Got the memories to prove it, look what a dude who ain't even graduate high school did
Ha, used to always be the new kid, laughed at 'cause I never used to pull chicks
Now I turn down more girls than them rich ass pitiful ball playin' fools get
Sometimes I smile so wide, I think about the dreams that I've lived
Shit even if I died tonight y'all, I'm the luckiest son bitch that ever lived
[Chorus]
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TWIN CITIES..... best damn music scene going on in the nation. Check out the current @ thecurrent.org live streaming dope radio, no commercials, member supported MN public radio, THE BEST RADIO STATION IN THE NATION. good hip-hop, rock, and alt/indie music.... seriously, check out the playlist, bet you see something you like and you'll hear some shit you'll fall in love with.... ( I don't even work there either ) AMAZING RADIO. thecurrent.org