"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.
There's a tall, a mulatto. boy I know
And he comes to every party - he stands alone
Viewing them the rest, from the corner of his glance
It gets so clear, he's not judging anyone
The way his arms float around his cage, he's caged
Canary sings, silently brings, his voice to rage
The way they stop and stare, the way they turn their heads
It's enough to make him want to run away
But he stays, he stands his ground
And I'm so lame
The way I condescend without ever knowing his name
He keeps it in a box, hangs it from his ear
Looks at everyone without the slightest fear
It's making me so ashamed
Slender body, slip through his glance
I don't give him a single chance
The way he's rocking back and forth
Makes a buzzing in my ear
Constantly reminding me that I never stop to hear
Him say hello, hello
And I am so lame
Like a moth bumping off his godless flame
I cannot condescend or even apprehend, what comes over me
When I see his shameless face
So rage, please rage against me
Beat me down, beat me down, forgive me
For what I've done, I'm so lame, I'm so lame, I'm so lame
So lame, so lame, so lame
And he comes to every party - he stands alone
Viewing them the rest, from the corner of his glance
It gets so clear, he's not judging anyone
The way his arms float around his cage, he's caged
Canary sings, silently brings, his voice to rage
The way they stop and stare, the way they turn their heads
It's enough to make him want to run away
But he stays, he stands his ground
And I'm so lame
The way I condescend without ever knowing his name
He keeps it in a box, hangs it from his ear
Looks at everyone without the slightest fear
It's making me so ashamed
Slender body, slip through his glance
I don't give him a single chance
The way he's rocking back and forth
Makes a buzzing in my ear
Constantly reminding me that I never stop to hear
Him say hello, hello
And I am so lame
Like a moth bumping off his godless flame
I cannot condescend or even apprehend, what comes over me
When I see his shameless face
So rage, please rage against me
Beat me down, beat me down, forgive me
For what I've done, I'm so lame, I'm so lame, I'm so lame
So lame, so lame, so lame
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Lame Lyrics as written by Robert Brewer Scott Russo
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is weird because it sounds like a females view point. It sounds like a female wrote this song or its based on the songwriters female friend who had feelings for a black guy in some school which seems college based on a comment here. I think she regrets having ignored him since he mentions she was lame and that she ignored him because she wanted to fit into the crowd yet she had feelings for him . The black guy seems to have been a minority in the school. Only a female into a guy would notice him and later admit that she had regrets that she didn't get to know him.
Sorry for multiple comments had typos in it.
Nice interpretation. Mulatto means mixed (black/white), though. And decades ago it was shameful to be mulatto since society REALLY looked down upon the offspring of mixed couples. The word "mulatto" was used on legal documents in my state as late as 1987 (possibly later).