"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.
Remember in the old days how we sucked up to the Poms.
We stood and sang their anthem like a pack of Uncle Toms.
And they bought our beef and wool,
So we let them test their bombs
In the heartland of Australia where the black-skinned nation roams.
There was nothing in the papers about what was being done.
If Robert Menzies knew, by Christ, he wasn’t letting on
For he loved his flamin’ knighthood, that great Australian son,
Much more than he loved the land where the Pitjantjatjara run.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
No one asked the local people if they thought it was okay.
If you haven’t got a job, mate, you haven’t got a say.
Oh, and if we lost a few, they were only in the way.
If they’d been white, then bet your backside there’d be holy shit to pay.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga,
It was total disregard for the black Australian race
They said fallout was harmless, they knew that was a lie
But it never slowed them up when there were people down close by
Who tell a story how they saw a big flash in the sky.
Then they all got sick and one by one began to slowly die.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
Now the sun set on the Empire though they never thought it would,
And now your Uncle Sam controls the neighborhood
Andin the name of peace and justice, he swears he’s Robin Hood
But in Chile and El Salvador, the truth is understood.
He’s got bureaucrats and technocrats, diplomats and spies
Working for the Pentagon, they’re its bloody nose and eyes
But you only feel disheartened until you realize,
When the workers of the world unite, we’re twice their bloody size.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the whole human race.
We stood and sang their anthem like a pack of Uncle Toms.
And they bought our beef and wool,
So we let them test their bombs
In the heartland of Australia where the black-skinned nation roams.
There was nothing in the papers about what was being done.
If Robert Menzies knew, by Christ, he wasn’t letting on
For he loved his flamin’ knighthood, that great Australian son,
Much more than he loved the land where the Pitjantjatjara run.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
No one asked the local people if they thought it was okay.
If you haven’t got a job, mate, you haven’t got a say.
Oh, and if we lost a few, they were only in the way.
If they’d been white, then bet your backside there’d be holy shit to pay.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga,
It was total disregard for the black Australian race
They said fallout was harmless, they knew that was a lie
But it never slowed them up when there were people down close by
Who tell a story how they saw a big flash in the sky.
Then they all got sick and one by one began to slowly die.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
Now the sun set on the Empire though they never thought it would,
And now your Uncle Sam controls the neighborhood
Andin the name of peace and justice, he swears he’s Robin Hood
But in Chile and El Salvador, the truth is understood.
He’s got bureaucrats and technocrats, diplomats and spies
Working for the Pentagon, they’re its bloody nose and eyes
But you only feel disheartened until you realize,
When the workers of the world unite, we’re twice their bloody size.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the black Australian race.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
What happened there was a bloody disgrace.
Out on the plains of Maralinga
It was total disregard for the whole human race.
Lyrics submitted by zel999
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