"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.
Oh, have you heard the word
Our friend is gonna be a star
She's gonna get the chauffeur, yeah
And she's gonna get the car
And she's gonna get the love of
The people at the bar
And she's gonna give birth to a baby guitar
Now rumor says our good friend
Has done some carrying on
And rumor says in public
She makes love to all her songs
In front of the frustration
Of the people at the bar
She's got the nerve to mess around
With her guitar
It was sad to see the breakdown
Of the princess falling star
One day when she was doing all
The people at the bar
She did a little don't, yeah
And they pulled her head apart
And neatly tucked away inside
Her eyelid was the heart
And they all looked at one another
And said, "We knew it- there you are
A nameless, illegitimate baby guitar"
A loving, loyal friend
Took the offspring as his own
And according to its birthright
He built it a throne
And now just like his mama
He does the people at the bar
And they look at one another and say,
"He's gonna be a star"
Remembering well the mother of
The baby guitar.
Our friend is gonna be a star
She's gonna get the chauffeur, yeah
And she's gonna get the car
And she's gonna get the love of
The people at the bar
And she's gonna give birth to a baby guitar
Now rumor says our good friend
Has done some carrying on
And rumor says in public
She makes love to all her songs
In front of the frustration
Of the people at the bar
She's got the nerve to mess around
With her guitar
It was sad to see the breakdown
Of the princess falling star
One day when she was doing all
The people at the bar
She did a little don't, yeah
And they pulled her head apart
And neatly tucked away inside
Her eyelid was the heart
And they all looked at one another
And said, "We knew it- there you are
A nameless, illegitimate baby guitar"
A loving, loyal friend
Took the offspring as his own
And according to its birthright
He built it a throne
And now just like his mama
He does the people at the bar
And they look at one another and say,
"He's gonna be a star"
Remembering well the mother of
The baby guitar.
Lyrics submitted by mixtapegoddess
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Fast Car
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Great version of a great song,
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