"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.
I'm looking for a sign that I can't see
The good the bad is somewhere in between
These warning signs, and the servant grinds, me down
The kids are building fires by their homes
The smoke is sending signals out in code
These safety suits, these parachutes
I don't know
Gotta stop, drop, roll
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
I'm choking on the words that I cant say
My lungs are full but everything's misplaced
And these junkyard dogs, these cherry bombs, go off
The sun, the sky, the moon will fall apart
Come tumbling down just like a house of cards
These fire escapes, and this lush landscape, it fades
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Weightless
I can feel this heavyweight hanging around my neck
I can feel your heartbeat bringing me back
Back again
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Be weightless
Be weightless
The good the bad is somewhere in between
These warning signs, and the servant grinds, me down
The kids are building fires by their homes
The smoke is sending signals out in code
These safety suits, these parachutes
I don't know
Gotta stop, drop, roll
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
I'm choking on the words that I cant say
My lungs are full but everything's misplaced
And these junkyard dogs, these cherry bombs, go off
The sun, the sky, the moon will fall apart
Come tumbling down just like a house of cards
These fire escapes, and this lush landscape, it fades
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Weightless
I can feel this heavyweight hanging around my neck
I can feel your heartbeat bringing me back
Back again
When all these walls come down
They'll shake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Oh when all these stars hit ground
They'll wake us
We fight not to be, not to be weightless
Be weightless
Be weightless
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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OLP is back!! I don't think this is necessarily a love song -that's not how I interpret it. It gives me more of a 'fighting for strength' sort of impression. The walls will inevitably crash; what holds you in place and gives you security now WILL fall; but right now we're fighting so we don't fall down with those walls. We don't want to be weightless when the most critical time of our life draws near.