"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.
She was my gotta mini ma'am and my aussie-aussie can-can
Living in between the seats is so sweet
Have I got something for you?
Living for my two dollar two
Now Tooley in the neck brace
Can he get a new face?
I like it when girls got money to burn
Let me show what I gotta go through
Living for my two dollar two
Come on!
Standing in line hearing a voice I must obey
I'm standing in line waiting for money!
I'm standing in line waiting for the boss to say okay
I'm standing in line waiting for money!!
Now point me to the high-high, skipping all the lines now,
Make me your bitch if it makes you rich
Watching my city burn down
Living through a twenty dollar clown
Tell me, tell me now-now, Show 'em how!
I like a lady who knows what my thing is for!
Do I really need to hear any more?
Living for my four dollar four, come on!
Standing in line hearing a voice I must obey
I’m standing in line waiting for money!
I’m standing in line waiting for my boss to say okay
I’m standing in line waiting for money!
And I won’t panic if you won’t panic
And if you get the ticket don’t pay the fine
Satanic mechanic in the mid-Atlantic
Making drippy-droppy in a Chilean coal mine
Now we can make a sunrise, shaking off fruit-flies
Sitting in a corner watching dirty flicks
Do you really wanna be in the mix?
Living for my six, sixty-six
I’m laying that train track, have a snack attack!
Five Pakistanis working in back
Cooking on a dirty, dirty grill
Give 'em all a twenty dollar bill
It’s coming back up!
Hey!
It’s coming back up!
Hey!
I'm running on dimes, hoping my debts will go away
I'm sending good times, making some money!
Yeah!
I'm hanging with mimes, learning to talk a different way
I'm cutting in lines and winning the game!
Shifting the blame!
Say, what's my name?
I make the bluest flame now!
Living in between the seats is so sweet
Have I got something for you?
Living for my two dollar two
Now Tooley in the neck brace
Can he get a new face?
I like it when girls got money to burn
Let me show what I gotta go through
Living for my two dollar two
Come on!
Standing in line hearing a voice I must obey
I'm standing in line waiting for money!
I'm standing in line waiting for the boss to say okay
I'm standing in line waiting for money!!
Now point me to the high-high, skipping all the lines now,
Make me your bitch if it makes you rich
Watching my city burn down
Living through a twenty dollar clown
Tell me, tell me now-now, Show 'em how!
I like a lady who knows what my thing is for!
Do I really need to hear any more?
Living for my four dollar four, come on!
Standing in line hearing a voice I must obey
I’m standing in line waiting for money!
I’m standing in line waiting for my boss to say okay
I’m standing in line waiting for money!
And I won’t panic if you won’t panic
And if you get the ticket don’t pay the fine
Satanic mechanic in the mid-Atlantic
Making drippy-droppy in a Chilean coal mine
Now we can make a sunrise, shaking off fruit-flies
Sitting in a corner watching dirty flicks
Do you really wanna be in the mix?
Living for my six, sixty-six
I’m laying that train track, have a snack attack!
Five Pakistanis working in back
Cooking on a dirty, dirty grill
Give 'em all a twenty dollar bill
It’s coming back up!
Hey!
It’s coming back up!
Hey!
I'm running on dimes, hoping my debts will go away
I'm sending good times, making some money!
Yeah!
I'm hanging with mimes, learning to talk a different way
I'm cutting in lines and winning the game!
Shifting the blame!
Say, what's my name?
I make the bluest flame now!
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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Fast Car
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