"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.
Now the pale morning sings of forgotten things
She plays a tune for those who wish to overlook
The fact that they've been blindly deceived
By those who preach, and pray, and teach
But she falls short and the night explodes in laughter
Don't you come here and say I didn't warn you
About the way your world can alter
And oh how you try to command it all still
Every single time it all shifts one way or the other
And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me evading and hollering for you
And I never really knew what to do
Now I guess sometimes I wish you were a little more predictable
That I could read you just like a book
For now I can only guess what's coming next
By examining your timid smile
And the ways of the old, old winds blowing you back around
And I'm a goddamn fool, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me singing out and searching for you
And I never really knew what to do
Sometimes I wish I could find my Rosemary Hill
I'd sit there and look at the deserted lakes and I'd sing
And every once in a while I'd sing a song for you
That would rise above the mountains and the stars and the sea
And if I wanted it to, it would lead you back to me
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Is something that I have heard before
A children's tale, the lonesome wail of a lion's roar
She plays a tune for those who wish to overlook
The fact that they've been blindly deceived
By those who preach, and pray, and teach
But she falls short and the night explodes in laughter
Don't you come here and say I didn't warn you
About the way your world can alter
And oh how you try to command it all still
Every single time it all shifts one way or the other
And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me evading and hollering for you
And I never really knew what to do
Now I guess sometimes I wish you were a little more predictable
That I could read you just like a book
For now I can only guess what's coming next
By examining your timid smile
And the ways of the old, old winds blowing you back around
And I'm a goddamn fool, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me singing out and searching for you
And I never really knew what to do
Sometimes I wish I could find my Rosemary Hill
I'd sit there and look at the deserted lakes and I'd sing
And every once in a while I'd sing a song for you
That would rise above the mountains and the stars and the sea
And if I wanted it to, it would lead you back to me
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Is something that I have heard before
A children's tale, the lonesome wail of a lion's roar
Lyrics submitted by weiwern28, edited by BearShit11
The Lion’s Roar Lyrics as written by Klara Maria Soederberg Johanna Kajsa Soederberg
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I feel like the first verse is introducing a person. A person who is a coward and fool but the narrator still cares for the person, almost like a mother trying to teach her child of the mistakes. The mother is trying to teach her child of the world, but it's difficult because the mother keeps making the same mistakes, and has regret.
"And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you" The mother trying to teach her child not to make mistakes (to be afraid of the ""lion's roar"") but she is still afraid And the lion's roar, the lion's roar (something they are both afraid of or a mistake they keep regretting) Has me evading and hollering for you (trying to look for comfort in her child) And I never really knew what to do