"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.
I spent all last summer trying to figure out
Where I was headed next,
What I could still call mine.
And on the last day of July,
He stepped off the porch for one last time,
He wouldn't look at me instead,
He just sort of shrugged and waved goodbye.
On August first I packed the last box,
Shoved it in and slammed the door.
I took up North on 57, the way I did before.
And it keeps getting clearer.
A gentle reminder:
Nothing's changed.
The miles don't really matter,
Because there's no place far enough away.
Fall brought a familiar reputation,
After being so assured I could escape it
And so my first Chicago winter proved not much different from the rest.
Now I mark each new morning by whose bed I climbed out of last.
For every night spent at the bar when I told myself I didn't mind.
And now I know the wind is in, the cold is staying in the city this time.
And it keeps getting clearer.
A gentle reminder:
Nothing's changed.
The miles don't really matter,
Because there's no place far enough away.
It occurred to me last night,
While I was waiting for the train,
It's been since the sixth of last October
That I've kept my arms clean.
But if I thought this was starting over,
I should've known I'd be the same.
I should remember this is all I am,
This is all I'll ever be.
Where I was headed next,
What I could still call mine.
And on the last day of July,
He stepped off the porch for one last time,
He wouldn't look at me instead,
He just sort of shrugged and waved goodbye.
On August first I packed the last box,
Shoved it in and slammed the door.
I took up North on 57, the way I did before.
And it keeps getting clearer.
A gentle reminder:
Nothing's changed.
The miles don't really matter,
Because there's no place far enough away.
Fall brought a familiar reputation,
After being so assured I could escape it
And so my first Chicago winter proved not much different from the rest.
Now I mark each new morning by whose bed I climbed out of last.
For every night spent at the bar when I told myself I didn't mind.
And now I know the wind is in, the cold is staying in the city this time.
And it keeps getting clearer.
A gentle reminder:
Nothing's changed.
The miles don't really matter,
Because there's no place far enough away.
It occurred to me last night,
While I was waiting for the train,
It's been since the sixth of last October
That I've kept my arms clean.
But if I thought this was starting over,
I should've known I'd be the same.
I should remember this is all I am,
This is all I'll ever be.
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Fast Car
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thank you! i heard this song years ago, and i knew the lyrics but i could never find what song it was (i was given the wrong song name)
now i can finally listen to it again:)
MAN! This was on a PROPS Road Fools vid, and they named it wrong! they said it was Detroit-lite, which is another cool Sarge song, but this is the one I was after! WOOO