"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.
I lived for the moment.
I grabbed hold
and I didn't relent (the) skin of my teeth,
holds no longer.
And now I come to claim
my just rewards.
Face down ! ground down with no recourse.
And now I come to claim
my just rewards.
The spoils of the toils are spent.
Where is the right place ?
Where is the right place, right time ?
If the face fits, we wear it.
Faces fit
while heart and soul slopes on.
Scraping through -
Just Rewards !
Dig the dirt -
Just Rewards !
Hold your ground -
Just Rewards !
Being sucked down -
Just Rewards !
Where is the right place ?
Where is the right place, right time ?
When you lay down on your own law,
you swim against the sanctimonious tides.
Down not out -
Just Rewards !
Looping tracks -
Just Rewards !
Stunted growth -
Just Rewards !
Dwindling hope -
Just Rewards !
I grabbed hold
and I didn't relent (the) skin of my teeth,
holds no longer.
And now I come to claim
my just rewards.
Face down ! ground down with no recourse.
And now I come to claim
my just rewards.
The spoils of the toils are spent.
Where is the right place ?
Where is the right place, right time ?
If the face fits, we wear it.
Faces fit
while heart and soul slopes on.
Scraping through -
Just Rewards !
Dig the dirt -
Just Rewards !
Hold your ground -
Just Rewards !
Being sucked down -
Just Rewards !
Where is the right place ?
Where is the right place, right time ?
When you lay down on your own law,
you swim against the sanctimonious tides.
Down not out -
Just Rewards !
Looping tracks -
Just Rewards !
Stunted growth -
Just Rewards !
Dwindling hope -
Just Rewards !
Lyrics submitted by sean, edited by waxleymolding
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