"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 I,
I carved these thoughts into my walls
Covered in black praying they would transcend to you
And I've been to the place where lonely souls dwell
Bringing me closer
One step closer to hell
Look into the sunlight
Before a plunge into oblivion
I don't lack the strength to move on
And now I'll fight off the strain that tries to pull me back
I'm never going back
Never going back
Fight off temptation, I'm never going back
I'll take this breath and I'll say these words to you
Don't want to let this go
Nothing remains in this life I know
All my failures are my great escape away from you
The poisonous world
I erased my life for this false sense of security
And I've killed my love for you
Forget me please, forget me
Please don't tell me I've lost it all
Solution hanging off the edge
Don't let me slip and fall
I've walked this Earth where life is stale
Dragging me closer
Seconds closer to hell
Look into the sunlight
As I crawl back from regrets
I don't lack the strength to move on
And now I'll fight off the strain that tries to pull me back
I'm never going back
Never going back
Fight off temptation, I'm never going back
I'll take this breath and I'll say these words to you
Don't want to let this go
Nothing remains in this life I know
All my failures are my great escape away from you
The poisonous world
I erased my life for this false sense of security
And I've killed my love for you
Forget me please, forget me
I carved these thoughts into my walls
Covered in black praying they would transcend to you
And I've been to the place where lonely souls dwell
Bringing me closer
One step closer to hell
Look into the sunlight
Before a plunge into oblivion
I don't lack the strength to move on
And now I'll fight off the strain that tries to pull me back
I'm never going back
Never going back
Fight off temptation, I'm never going back
I'll take this breath and I'll say these words to you
Don't want to let this go
Nothing remains in this life I know
All my failures are my great escape away from you
The poisonous world
I erased my life for this false sense of security
And I've killed my love for you
Forget me please, forget me
Please don't tell me I've lost it all
Solution hanging off the edge
Don't let me slip and fall
I've walked this Earth where life is stale
Dragging me closer
Seconds closer to hell
Look into the sunlight
As I crawl back from regrets
I don't lack the strength to move on
And now I'll fight off the strain that tries to pull me back
I'm never going back
Never going back
Fight off temptation, I'm never going back
I'll take this breath and I'll say these words to you
Don't want to let this go
Nothing remains in this life I know
All my failures are my great escape away from you
The poisonous world
I erased my life for this false sense of security
And I've killed my love for you
Forget me please, forget me
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by sokorny
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A few possibilities I feel for this song ... it could be about drugs, depression or a loved one IMO.
"The poisonous world" is the main thing that leads me to consider it could possibly be drugs. As the rest of the lyrics to me tend to float around them being a dark place previously (depression, taking drugs etc.) They are fighting to get out of this place but in essence the sense of reality is distorted (due to mental depression / illness / drug abuse) and now they are devote to their new reality (depression / drug).
The flip side is that it is about a loved one ... love can cause some distorted views of the world, and you are devoted to their love (and it can be poisonous afterwards if the separation isn't pretty).