"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.
Start tearing the old man down
Run past the heather and down to the old road
Start turning the grain into the ground
Roll a new leaf over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Treading around in the gathered rain
Hey, mister, if you're gonna walk on water
Oh could you drop a line my way?
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Oh oh yeah
Start threading the needle
Brush past the shuttle that slides through the cold room
Start turning the wool across the wire
Roll the new life over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Threading his toes through a bucket of rain
Hey, mister, you don't wanna walk on water
'Cause you're only going to walk all over me
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Start running the banner down
Drop past the color come up through the summer rain
Start turning the girl into the ground
Roll a new life over
In the middle of the day
There's a young man rolling around in the earth and rain
Hey mister if you're gonna walk on water, you know
You're only gonna walk all over me
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Omaha, oh somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
Oh it's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Ohh ahh, said Omaha, Sunday morning
I'm coming home today
Run past the heather and down to the old road
Start turning the grain into the ground
Roll a new leaf over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Treading around in the gathered rain
Hey, mister, if you're gonna walk on water
Oh could you drop a line my way?
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Oh oh yeah
Start threading the needle
Brush past the shuttle that slides through the cold room
Start turning the wool across the wire
Roll the new life over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Threading his toes through a bucket of rain
Hey, mister, you don't wanna walk on water
'Cause you're only going to walk all over me
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Start running the banner down
Drop past the color come up through the summer rain
Start turning the girl into the ground
Roll a new life over
In the middle of the day
There's a young man rolling around in the earth and rain
Hey mister if you're gonna walk on water, you know
You're only gonna walk all over me
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Omaha, oh somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
Oh it's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Ohh ahh, said Omaha, Sunday morning
I'm coming home today
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Little Feat
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Amazing
Ed Sheeran
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I think it's about a man who is caught up in the constantly drudgery of habit and doesn't have the desire or ability to break it. The "walk on water" line I think refers to his inability to transcend his current situation. Caught up in the details of life never exploring the real cosmic questions. This is a roundabout way of saying the unexamined life is not worth living.