"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.
The man appeared to me inside that yellow wood
I'd carved his name in the dirt, at the crossroads where we stood
He said, "Are you looking for directions?"
I said, "Gee, I wish you would. Which way to the infinite road that unwinds from within."
He said, "Follow the distant light"
Oh' you know I will! Follow the distant light, just a little bit over the hill
Follow the distant light and although you'll never near it
You can travel on forever and you'll never be back here
I said, "alright"
The stranger appeared to me, he hopped down from his tree
I said, "I can give you anything, but you know that nothing's free."
Well I could take it or leave it. I said, "well what do you want from me."
He said, "nothing much really, just a small token of appreciation
that would mean so little to man like you and so much to a man like me."
Gimme the distant light
Oh no I cannot do it
Gimme the distant light, he said through his teeth
Gimme the distant light
I said, "I ain't quite yet through with it"
As I saw it shining dimly through the branches of his tree, I walked on
Following the distant light
Like the way some people look for parking
Following the distant light, and tripping all over my feet
But following the distant light
And I know if I keep walking, I'll never touch it,
but as long as I move it'll shine down on me
I'd carved his name in the dirt, at the crossroads where we stood
He said, "Are you looking for directions?"
I said, "Gee, I wish you would. Which way to the infinite road that unwinds from within."
He said, "Follow the distant light"
Oh' you know I will! Follow the distant light, just a little bit over the hill
Follow the distant light and although you'll never near it
You can travel on forever and you'll never be back here
I said, "alright"
The stranger appeared to me, he hopped down from his tree
I said, "I can give you anything, but you know that nothing's free."
Well I could take it or leave it. I said, "well what do you want from me."
He said, "nothing much really, just a small token of appreciation
that would mean so little to man like you and so much to a man like me."
Gimme the distant light
Oh no I cannot do it
Gimme the distant light, he said through his teeth
Gimme the distant light
I said, "I ain't quite yet through with it"
As I saw it shining dimly through the branches of his tree, I walked on
Following the distant light
Like the way some people look for parking
Following the distant light, and tripping all over my feet
But following the distant light
And I know if I keep walking, I'll never touch it,
but as long as I move it'll shine down on me
Lyrics submitted by monkeyninja69
Distant Light Lyrics as written by Toby Mark Leaman Scott A Mcmicken
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This seems to me to be a religious song, but an offbeat and unusual one. The "distant light" is God and/or heaven, and the stranger in the second verse is the devil. From the point of view of the narrator, the important thing is the search, not any expectation of reaching the destination.
I think this song could be about never giving up on your dreams or anything really that you are seeking. To me the man/stranger is a corporate figure who wants the protagonist to give up his dreams or whatever his distant light represents. He wants the protagonist to devote his time to the stranger instead of pursuing his distant light.
That's what it means to me, as someone whose worked many years for "the man" and still has dreams. They want you to give up your distant light and make them rich.
It's a tricky song to nail down. I was really hoping there would be a better interpretation of it on here.