"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.
Oh Lord if I could just go home I'd do things different from now on
There wouldn't be near the gray in my old daddy's hair
Oh Lord if I could just go home
I know it wasn't daddy's fault that mama died when I was just a kid
And the best that he could do to raise me right was all he ever did
And I know he'd love mama a lot longer than I had and he was every bit as alone
But I don't guess I'd helped too much to build a happy home
He made sure I got to church every Sunday the way mama had always done
And he was always sorry he had to work so hard and he never had much time for fun
He knew I missed mama a lot
And maybe he was easier on me than he should have been
But it sure ain't his fault that I didn't turn out to be much a man
Well I've grew on into my teens and I guess I thought I was a real hard stuff
Goin' into town hangin' around bars and actin' pretty tough
Well I'm looking out at a different set of bars now
And that little window don't let it much light
You see I got roarin' drinkin' mad one night and I killed the man in a fight
I got a letter from back home the other day
Saying dad had a stroke and he ain't doin' too good
Well if I had done right I'd be there now to help him and God you know I would
And I'd pay him back for all the years of love that he gave me
And I'd be a better man the way I was taught to be
Oh Lord if I could just go home
There wouldn't be near the gray in my old daddy's hair
Oh Lord if I could just go home
I know it wasn't daddy's fault that mama died when I was just a kid
And the best that he could do to raise me right was all he ever did
And I know he'd love mama a lot longer than I had and he was every bit as alone
But I don't guess I'd helped too much to build a happy home
He made sure I got to church every Sunday the way mama had always done
And he was always sorry he had to work so hard and he never had much time for fun
He knew I missed mama a lot
And maybe he was easier on me than he should have been
But it sure ain't his fault that I didn't turn out to be much a man
Well I've grew on into my teens and I guess I thought I was a real hard stuff
Goin' into town hangin' around bars and actin' pretty tough
Well I'm looking out at a different set of bars now
And that little window don't let it much light
You see I got roarin' drinkin' mad one night and I killed the man in a fight
I got a letter from back home the other day
Saying dad had a stroke and he ain't doin' too good
Well if I had done right I'd be there now to help him and God you know I would
And I'd pay him back for all the years of love that he gave me
And I'd be a better man the way I was taught to be
Oh Lord if I could just go home
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
If I Could Just Go Home Lyrics as written by Ed Bruce
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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