"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 man holding a megaphone
He must have been the voice of God
The bystanders claimed they saw angels
Flying up and down the block
Well, they must have been attached to wires
I've seen one laying in the lawn with a broken arm
So I called 911
Well, that's one less founded opinion
One more cause for a dispute
So the street filled like a basin
Up with cameras and their crews
And they washed away the rumors
Leaving just the concrete truth
It was a spectacle
No, I, I mean a miracle
So I fell like a girl from a balance beam
A gymnasium of eyes, all are holding on to me
I lifted one foot to cross the other and I felt myself slipping
It was a small mistake
Sometimes that's all it takes
Now I'm staring at my wrist
Hoping that the timing is right
When the planets will align
There will be no planets to align
Just the carcass of the sun
With little painted marbles
Spinning senseless through an endless black sky
And so it never started
And it will never stop
Just like I am and you are
It was in a foreign hotel bathtub
I baptized myself in change
And one by one, I drowned all of the people I had been
And I emerged to find the parallels were fewer
I was cleansed
I looked in the mirror and someone new was there
But I was as helpless as a chess piece
When I was lifted up by someone's hand
And delivered from the corner
My enemies had got me in
But in all of my salvation I still felt imprisoned inside
That holding cell that is myself
So I wait for the day when I'll hear the key
As it turns in the lock and the guard will say to me
"Oh, my patient prisoner, you have waited for this day and finally
You are free, you are free, you are freezing"
Now I'm staring at the sun
Waiting for it to explode
Because a day is gonna come
Don't know when, but it will come
And we'll finally know the way out of here
And I'll throw away this wrinkled map
And my chart of stars and compass, cracked
And I'll climb that tree all wet with sap
To avoid the hungry beasts below
I'll cut out my lover's tongue and sing
Of a graveyard grey and a garden green
And we won't have to worry no more
No, we won't have to wonder again
About how this song or story ends
About how this song and story will end
He must have been the voice of God
The bystanders claimed they saw angels
Flying up and down the block
Well, they must have been attached to wires
I've seen one laying in the lawn with a broken arm
So I called 911
Well, that's one less founded opinion
One more cause for a dispute
So the street filled like a basin
Up with cameras and their crews
And they washed away the rumors
Leaving just the concrete truth
It was a spectacle
No, I, I mean a miracle
So I fell like a girl from a balance beam
A gymnasium of eyes, all are holding on to me
I lifted one foot to cross the other and I felt myself slipping
It was a small mistake
Sometimes that's all it takes
Now I'm staring at my wrist
Hoping that the timing is right
When the planets will align
There will be no planets to align
Just the carcass of the sun
With little painted marbles
Spinning senseless through an endless black sky
And so it never started
And it will never stop
Just like I am and you are
It was in a foreign hotel bathtub
I baptized myself in change
And one by one, I drowned all of the people I had been
And I emerged to find the parallels were fewer
I was cleansed
I looked in the mirror and someone new was there
But I was as helpless as a chess piece
When I was lifted up by someone's hand
And delivered from the corner
My enemies had got me in
But in all of my salvation I still felt imprisoned inside
That holding cell that is myself
So I wait for the day when I'll hear the key
As it turns in the lock and the guard will say to me
"Oh, my patient prisoner, you have waited for this day and finally
You are free, you are free, you are freezing"
Now I'm staring at the sun
Waiting for it to explode
Because a day is gonna come
Don't know when, but it will come
And we'll finally know the way out of here
And I'll throw away this wrinkled map
And my chart of stars and compass, cracked
And I'll climb that tree all wet with sap
To avoid the hungry beasts below
I'll cut out my lover's tongue and sing
Of a graveyard grey and a garden green
And we won't have to worry no more
No, we won't have to wonder again
About how this song or story ends
About how this song and story will end
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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Summerstars, are you serious? I'm a little more than skeptical of the religious theory, because just a few songs before this on Lifted is "Don't Know When..." and I'd say that song sets Conor's religious outlook forth pretty clearly.