"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.
Obey.
You have to follow to find what the future holds for you.
My life in the palm of your hands.
You have never led me astray.
You are my guiding star that made me who I am today.
Over time I begin to find that what matters in life is more than we know.
I'm not burning.
By the hands of you, I will see this through.
There's a time in all of our lives when you face the truth and the truth isn't what we want to hear.
I'm alive, I am what I am.
I am what I am, and I was made to endure this hate.
I'm not burning.
You have to follow to find what the future holds for you.
My life in the palm of your hands.
You have never led me astray.
You are my guiding star that made me who I am today.
Over time I begin to find that what matters in life is more than we know.
I'm not burning.
By the hands of you, I will see this through.
There's a time in all of our lives when you face the truth and the truth isn't what we want to hear.
I'm alive, I am what I am.
I am what I am, and I was made to endure this hate.
I'm not burning.
Lyrics submitted by jbutterweck
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