"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's shaking down
I'm absent and numb from shock
Reachin' around
For the hands of the clock
Sugar light
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
Cupid's trick
Comes down to shake and deal
A stupid kick
That makes me reel
Sugar light
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
She's shaking down
It's never over and done
So kick me, cave me in
I'm no one
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
I'm absent and numb from shock
Reachin' around
For the hands of the clock
Sugar light
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
Cupid's trick
Comes down to shake and deal
A stupid kick
That makes me reel
Sugar light
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
She's shaking down
It's never over and done
So kick me, cave me in
I'm no one
Lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up, it's my lie
Sugar, lip me up
Lyrics submitted by EnjOy IncUbus
Cupid's Trick Lyrics as written by Steven Paul Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Great version of a great song,
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Also, I think it's "sugar lie" not "Should've lied".
An alternative but complimentary explanation (to my idea posted above) is that 'sugar' is not a woman but the drug (cocaine probably). So he's saying he's consumed by the drug, not the other way around (sugar lick me up) even though he knows that the drug is a lie - it's not real happiness (Sugar lie). Nonetheless, he sees the drug as his love, and also as the thing that makes him real [The stupid kick that makes me real]. This is not a new sentiment for Elliott, his lyrics often allude to drugs making him more real, giving the world colour etc. So then here, cupid's trick is that he loves something that is destroying him, [kick me, cane me...] something that is ultimately a lie. But he can't escape it [It's never over and done].
All in all, I think the song is a melding of my two explanations. So many of his songs have dual meanings, and like another poster said, it's usually about drugs and a woman. Again, what do you think?