"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.
light a Newport, get a paper from the porch | cant believe the
bars don’t let the people smoke indoors | an empty beer can, a
couple old sales receipts | movie ticket stubbs, a pizza box from
last week | watching westerns on his black and white tv set |
digital converter box the government made him get | stain in his
shag carpet, no time to clean it yet | thinking about hittin the
bank and cashing his check
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
take a ride, hop inside the delta 88 | roadmap and an atlas is
on his backseat | dice is in the mirror, pine trees keep the air
fresh | reach into the glovebox and pull out his favorite cassette
| damn, thinking music just aint what it used to be | aint been
the same since CDs and MTV | he miss the vinyl LPs and the
milkcrates | so right before he walk in the bank he flip the tape
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
teller ask how he’s doing, he says fine | they let him know he can
check his account balance on line | he laughs, and say truthfully
“that’s out of the question” | cause he heard about the internet
but still don’t trust it | get on the freeway, its under construction
all the time | glance down at the buildings crowding the skyline |
most of the spots he used to frequent all closed | they call it
“progress”, he calls it “nightclubs & condos”
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
bars don’t let the people smoke indoors | an empty beer can, a
couple old sales receipts | movie ticket stubbs, a pizza box from
last week | watching westerns on his black and white tv set |
digital converter box the government made him get | stain in his
shag carpet, no time to clean it yet | thinking about hittin the
bank and cashing his check
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
take a ride, hop inside the delta 88 | roadmap and an atlas is
on his backseat | dice is in the mirror, pine trees keep the air
fresh | reach into the glovebox and pull out his favorite cassette
| damn, thinking music just aint what it used to be | aint been
the same since CDs and MTV | he miss the vinyl LPs and the
milkcrates | so right before he walk in the bank he flip the tape
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
teller ask how he’s doing, he says fine | they let him know he can
check his account balance on line | he laughs, and say truthfully
“that’s out of the question” | cause he heard about the internet
but still don’t trust it | get on the freeway, its under construction
all the time | glance down at the buildings crowding the skyline |
most of the spots he used to frequent all closed | they call it
“progress”, he calls it “nightclubs & condos”
back when it all was simple | before they took it all away | they
sold us all tomorrow | then they stole our yesterday
Lyrics submitted by GoldPaintedLemons
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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