"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.
Dry mouth, push it out, I can hear my heart pound, a hero's what I'm not
Voices scream, flashes flare, frozen as the people stare, my crucifixion shot
Friends were electric on the western side while triangles were shifting on the floor
Squeezing out the breath that I don't have, they're quiet now, they only want two more
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
Every shot I've taken has led me to this moment since I was four feet high
Big D is watching, I remember what he taught me, don't let 'em see you cry
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Dry mouth, push it out, I can hear my heart pound, a hero's what I'm not
Voices scream, flashes flare, frozen as the people stare, my crucifiction shot
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Voices scream, flashes flare, frozen as the people stare, my crucifixion shot
Friends were electric on the western side while triangles were shifting on the floor
Squeezing out the breath that I don't have, they're quiet now, they only want two more
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
Every shot I've taken has led me to this moment since I was four feet high
Big D is watching, I remember what he taught me, don't let 'em see you cry
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Dry mouth, push it out, I can hear my heart pound, a hero's what I'm not
Voices scream, flashes flare, frozen as the people stare, my crucifiction shot
And you step to the line
And you step to the line
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
You try to see your future from the line
And you're clinging to the notion you'll be fine
But the circle's getting smaller all the time
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
The Line Lyrics as written by Jonathan Fishman Ernest Anastasio
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song has basketball imagery, but all the stage fright / lightshow imagery makes this song seem like it's coming from a place of personal experience. The triangles on the floor and electric fans on the west (stage "west" or audience "west?" "Page side?" "Mike Side? are probably live show images -- spinning triangles of light moving across the floor are pretty common lighting effects.
So for me, stepping to the line is going out on stage, facing the future with sobriety, with fear, and with excitement. The song that follows, Devotion to a Dream, carries on this theme.