"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 up my lantern, I'll cut you a path
We've walked for hours and it's getting dark
We left the roadside in search of aid
Windscreen shattered and tire marks made
I've never seen someone bleeding like this
Rip off your sleeve and clench your wrist
I light the stove and sit by the hearth
Orangey glow like the wintery dark
We kept her bedroom exactly the same
Winters they followed and summers they came
He bash around, banging down on the floor
I sit alone with an eye on the door
Stop in this clearing, we'll stay here tonight
Press up against me I'll hold you so tight
I got these matches we'll let off some smoke
Maybe they'll see us and maybe they won't
Blanket of leaves hide the lie from the stars
I lie awake listening out for cars
He stares through curtains and talks to the night
I sit and listen for tires on the drive
I keep on waiting and he keep on talking
Just stop him talking, please stop him talking
No, give me silence
Give me silence
Give me silence
No
We've walked for hours and it's getting dark
We left the roadside in search of aid
Windscreen shattered and tire marks made
I've never seen someone bleeding like this
Rip off your sleeve and clench your wrist
I light the stove and sit by the hearth
Orangey glow like the wintery dark
We kept her bedroom exactly the same
Winters they followed and summers they came
He bash around, banging down on the floor
I sit alone with an eye on the door
Stop in this clearing, we'll stay here tonight
Press up against me I'll hold you so tight
I got these matches we'll let off some smoke
Maybe they'll see us and maybe they won't
Blanket of leaves hide the lie from the stars
I lie awake listening out for cars
He stares through curtains and talks to the night
I sit and listen for tires on the drive
I keep on waiting and he keep on talking
Just stop him talking, please stop him talking
No, give me silence
Give me silence
Give me silence
No
Lyrics submitted by toadtws
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Alright, I've been obsessively listening to this song for the past couple of days. Here's what I think: The song is called two tales - so maybe it's two tales about the same story. My interpretation is that a young girl died and this song is the father of the girl, and maybe the brother or boyfriend of the girl telling their different versions. The father is saying it was a car crash, where the younger man is saying it's suicide. At the end the younger man is so heart-wrenchingly fed up with the father not accepting what really happened. Just my thought. Either way I love this song.