"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.
Pick me a town in any clime
Where people like a rockin time
And stay awake both day and night
Till everybody's feelin good an' right
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, smack dab in the middle, boys now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
Ten Cadillacs, a diamond mill
Ten suits of clothes to dress to kill
A ten room house, some Bar B Q
And fifty chicks not over twenty-two
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
Oh, I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, now boys you can see why
I wanna be smack dab in the middle now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
One hundred beds with chorus girls
A street that's paved with natural pearls
A wagon load of bonds and stocks
Then open up the door at Fort Knox
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, now listen boys throw me
Smack dab in the middle right now
So Ray can rock and roll to satisfy his soul
That's all right!
A lot of bread and gangs of meat
Oodles of butter and somethin sweet
Gallons of coffee to wash it down
Bicarbonated soda by the pound
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I picture it (smack dab in the middle)
Ah, throw me now, smack dab in the middle right now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
Alright!
Where people like a rockin time
And stay awake both day and night
Till everybody's feelin good an' right
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, smack dab in the middle, boys now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
Ten Cadillacs, a diamond mill
Ten suits of clothes to dress to kill
A ten room house, some Bar B Q
And fifty chicks not over twenty-two
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
Oh, I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, now boys you can see why
I wanna be smack dab in the middle now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
One hundred beds with chorus girls
A street that's paved with natural pearls
A wagon load of bonds and stocks
Then open up the door at Fort Knox
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I wanna be (smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, now listen boys throw me
Smack dab in the middle right now
So Ray can rock and roll to satisfy his soul
That's all right!
A lot of bread and gangs of meat
Oodles of butter and somethin sweet
Gallons of coffee to wash it down
Bicarbonated soda by the pound
Then throw me (smack dab in the middle)
I picture it (smack dab in the middle)
Ah, throw me now, smack dab in the middle right now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
Alright!
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Smack Dab in the Middle Lyrics as written by Charles E Calhoun
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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