"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.
placed in my palm are the remnants
of what we've shared
my hand tenses ready to cast
into the air
what comes ahead i am unsure
but i'm prepared
my hand opens and with the wind
it is revealed to us our
youth contained a seed
that yearned for growth
we couldn't give each other
but i'll take what we have seen and heard and i promise
until i've left this earth that you'll stay with me
you'll sing through my lungs, see through my eyes and
as we march our splitting trails recall that i shall bear no hatred for you and should you see me
i would only take your pain away
we were just kids, there was a globe
we hadn't seen
we both went south but we left town
separately
time striped the pain, leaving us one
feeling to hold
we'll always know that there's a voice
we can rely on to tell
us the truth when all the world
will sweetly recite lies
so we
should be grateful for our time and though
it's come and gone there's no need to
keep what was once so bitter
we will ripen into somethin' sweet
and i won't take for granted all i've learned
and all i've yet to learn
and i will be filled with courage
just cause you once told me i was strong
behind this door
there is a world ready to hurt you
but at your back
is all the strength of everyone who's loved you
so release your fear because our hands will keep you
floating through the tides you've swam against
and through the darkness that's ahead i will be the
brightest tower off the coast that we've always called home
and though i'm happy that you've grown and feel content in letting go, who knows what the future holds?
in there, may be a chorus for our love
of what we've shared
my hand tenses ready to cast
into the air
what comes ahead i am unsure
but i'm prepared
my hand opens and with the wind
it is revealed to us our
youth contained a seed
that yearned for growth
we couldn't give each other
but i'll take what we have seen and heard and i promise
until i've left this earth that you'll stay with me
you'll sing through my lungs, see through my eyes and
as we march our splitting trails recall that i shall bear no hatred for you and should you see me
i would only take your pain away
we were just kids, there was a globe
we hadn't seen
we both went south but we left town
separately
time striped the pain, leaving us one
feeling to hold
we'll always know that there's a voice
we can rely on to tell
us the truth when all the world
will sweetly recite lies
so we
should be grateful for our time and though
it's come and gone there's no need to
keep what was once so bitter
we will ripen into somethin' sweet
and i won't take for granted all i've learned
and all i've yet to learn
and i will be filled with courage
just cause you once told me i was strong
behind this door
there is a world ready to hurt you
but at your back
is all the strength of everyone who's loved you
so release your fear because our hands will keep you
floating through the tides you've swam against
and through the darkness that's ahead i will be the
brightest tower off the coast that we've always called home
and though i'm happy that you've grown and feel content in letting go, who knows what the future holds?
in there, may be a chorus for our love
Lyrics submitted by noisecrush
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Fast Car
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