"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.
On the fall of our kingdom time would never be the same
Cursed mortals,their ignorance
Brought about undying pain
Not of life nor of death
Light, we'll never see again
Entombed, now and forever by the suns blinding light
Trapped by flesh turned to stone, set free by the night
Lavish lords that we once were condemned to never die
As we watch the genocide from on high
Long ago, the first age of earth
From the dragons womb we're given birth
Protectors of our fathers right
Guardians of primordial light
How can we save our dying world
From the humans lack of sight
The darkest corner of your mind
Is where we choose to live
Reminding you of what you've lost
In your quest for dominance
Of our children all is gone except the terror in your soul
Our image cast in stone, which once was flesh and bone
The time will come when we rise and reclaim our domain
From the war and deceit which infests our world
We are all around you
Watching, waiting, in the shadows
Cursed mortals,their ignorance
Brought about undying pain
Not of life nor of death
Light, we'll never see again
Entombed, now and forever by the suns blinding light
Trapped by flesh turned to stone, set free by the night
Lavish lords that we once were condemned to never die
As we watch the genocide from on high
Long ago, the first age of earth
From the dragons womb we're given birth
Protectors of our fathers right
Guardians of primordial light
How can we save our dying world
From the humans lack of sight
The darkest corner of your mind
Is where we choose to live
Reminding you of what you've lost
In your quest for dominance
Of our children all is gone except the terror in your soul
Our image cast in stone, which once was flesh and bone
The time will come when we rise and reclaim our domain
From the war and deceit which infests our world
We are all around you
Watching, waiting, in the shadows
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Fast Car
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