"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.
Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face
With stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed
They talk in song from tongues of lilting grace
The sounds caress my ear
And not a word I heard could I relate
The story was quite clear
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh, baby, I've been blind
Oh yeah, mama, there ain't no denyin'
Oh, ooh yes, I've been blind
Mama, mama, ain't no denyin', no denyin'
Oh, all I see, turns to brown
As the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand
As I scan this wasted land
Try to find, try to find the way I feel
Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace
Like sorts inside a dream
Leave the path that led me to that place
Yellow desert stream
Like Shangri-La beneath the summer moon
I will return again
As the dust that floats high in June
We're moving through Kashmir
Oh, father of the four winds fill my sails
Cross the sea of years
With no provision, but an open face
Along the straits of fear
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, when I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
And my feet wear my fickle way to stay, yeah
Ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah
But I'm down, ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah
But I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, ooh, my baby
Let me take you there
Oh, oh, come on, come on
Oh, let me take you there
Let me take you there
With stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed
They talk in song from tongues of lilting grace
The sounds caress my ear
And not a word I heard could I relate
The story was quite clear
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh, baby, I've been blind
Oh yeah, mama, there ain't no denyin'
Oh, ooh yes, I've been blind
Mama, mama, ain't no denyin', no denyin'
Oh, all I see, turns to brown
As the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand
As I scan this wasted land
Try to find, try to find the way I feel
Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace
Like sorts inside a dream
Leave the path that led me to that place
Yellow desert stream
Like Shangri-La beneath the summer moon
I will return again
As the dust that floats high in June
We're moving through Kashmir
Oh, father of the four winds fill my sails
Cross the sea of years
With no provision, but an open face
Along the straits of fear
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, when I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
And my feet wear my fickle way to stay, yeah
Ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah
But I'm down, ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah
But I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, ooh, my baby
Let me take you there
Oh, oh, come on, come on
Oh, let me take you there
Let me take you there
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Yikes, nice writeup but what's SongMeanings about if not to post ignorant comments, dude :p