"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.
don't break too many hearts
don't take too many arrows in the chest
cry comfortably
let us all know what you're thinking
is there a gesture i could use
to clearly express
i'm at an utter loss for words
is there a part of you that's torn
that's larger than life
that'll hold on for one more night
i've got a speech to make
followed by a big parade
northside, closed eyes
all charades go on forever
hands tied with fools pride
in a slowly fleeing summer
just throw your hands up at the sky
no use trying to explain this
the clouds are mirrors, i'm disguised
i'm not all that entertaining
the city looks the same
until you notice smaller changes
it still knows us all by name
it holds us close to its heart
all my hopes are unaligned
this diagnosis is self-designed
northside, dead eyes
all charades go on forever.
hands tied with past lives
in a slowly fleeing summer.
empty rooms don't have pictures to talk to
brickwall views demand uninspired afternoons
the days are flooding into months
the nights are staring into centuries
i've got some older pictures
of people i see once every couple years
intrigued or unamazed
you were so much different back in those days
and now this smile has a bitter curve
now these eyes are unenchanted
and all we see
is a faded image of what we used to be.
how can we relate
when we don't know
a thing about each other anymore
when we don't know
each other anymore
is there a gesture i could use
to clearly express
i'm at an utter loss for words
don't take too many arrows in the chest
cry comfortably
let us all know what you're thinking
is there a gesture i could use
to clearly express
i'm at an utter loss for words
is there a part of you that's torn
that's larger than life
that'll hold on for one more night
i've got a speech to make
followed by a big parade
northside, closed eyes
all charades go on forever
hands tied with fools pride
in a slowly fleeing summer
just throw your hands up at the sky
no use trying to explain this
the clouds are mirrors, i'm disguised
i'm not all that entertaining
the city looks the same
until you notice smaller changes
it still knows us all by name
it holds us close to its heart
all my hopes are unaligned
this diagnosis is self-designed
northside, dead eyes
all charades go on forever.
hands tied with past lives
in a slowly fleeing summer.
empty rooms don't have pictures to talk to
brickwall views demand uninspired afternoons
the days are flooding into months
the nights are staring into centuries
i've got some older pictures
of people i see once every couple years
intrigued or unamazed
you were so much different back in those days
and now this smile has a bitter curve
now these eyes are unenchanted
and all we see
is a faded image of what we used to be.
how can we relate
when we don't know
a thing about each other anymore
when we don't know
each other anymore
is there a gesture i could use
to clearly express
i'm at an utter loss for words
Lyrics submitted by AllStarMe
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