"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.
Forced by the pressure
The territories marked
No longer the pleasure
Oh, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory
No longer the power
It's creeping up slowly
That last fatal hour
Oh, I don't what made me
What gave me the right
To mess with your values
And change wrong to right
Please keep your distance
The trail leads to here
There's blood on your fingers
Brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you
You treat me like this
It's just second nature
It's what we've been shown
We're living by your rules
That's all that we know
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
Oh, I tried to get to you
The territories marked
No longer the pleasure
Oh, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory
No longer the power
It's creeping up slowly
That last fatal hour
Oh, I don't what made me
What gave me the right
To mess with your values
And change wrong to right
Please keep your distance
The trail leads to here
There's blood on your fingers
Brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you
You treat me like this
It's just second nature
It's what we've been shown
We're living by your rules
That's all that we know
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
Oh, I tried to get to you
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It's comparing relationships with politics. So both of you are right.