"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.
Ugh, what up y'all?
Yeah (Soundtrakk, what's poppin', baby?)
Y'all ain't know
I go by the name of Lupe Fiasco
Representin' that First and Fifteenth, yeah, uh
And this one right here
I dedicate this one right here
To all my homies out there grindin'
You know what I'm sayin'?
Legally and illegaly, haha (Uproxx)
You know what I'm talkin' about?
So, check it out, uh
First got it when he was six, didn't know any tricks
Matter fact first time he got on it, he slipped
Landed on his hip and busted his lip
For a week he had to talk with a lisp like this
Now we can end the story right here
But shorty didn't quit, it was something in the air
Yeah, he said it was something so appealing
He couldn't fight the feeling, something about it
He knew he couldn't doubt it, couldn't understand it, brand it
Since the first kick flip he landed, uh
Labeled a misfit, a bandit (ka-kump, ka-kump, ka-kump)
His neighbors couldn't stand it
So he was banished to the park
Started in the morning, wouldn't stop 'til after dark
Yeah, when they said its getting late in here
So I'm sorry young man, there's no skating here
And so he kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away he rolled
Jus' a rebel to the world with no place to go
And so he kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come and skate with me
Just a rebel looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
My man got a little older, became a better a roller
Yeah, no helmet, hell bent on killing himself
Is what his momma said but he was feeling himself
Got a little more swagger in his style
Met his girlfriend, she was clapping in the crowd
Love is what was happening to him now, uh
He said "I would marry you
But I'm engaged to these aerials and varials
And I don't think this board is strong enough to carry two"
She said "Bow, I weigh a hundred and twenty pounds
Now, let me make one thing clear
I don't need to ride yours, I got mine right here"
So she took him to a spot he didn't know about
Some modern apartment parking lot
She said "I don't normally take dates in here"
Security came and said "I'm sorry, there's no skating here"
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away they rolled
Just lovers intertwined with no place to go
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come and skate with me
Just a rebel, looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
Yeah, uh (swanky)
Yeah, yeah
Before he knew, he had a crew that wasn't no punk
In they Spitfire shirts and SB dunks
They would push 'til they couldn't skate no more
Office building lobbies wasn't safe no more
And it wasn't like they wasn't getting chased no more
Just the freedom was better than breathing they said (they said)
An escape route they used to escape out
When things got crazy, they needed to break out
They head to any place with stairs
Any good grinds, the world was theirs, uh
And they four wheels would take 'em there
Until the cops came and said "There's no skating here"
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away they rolled
Just rebels without a cause with no place to go
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come roll with me
Just a rebel looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
Haha (swanky)
Yeah (Soundtrakk, what's poppin', baby?)
Y'all ain't know
I go by the name of Lupe Fiasco
Representin' that First and Fifteenth, yeah, uh
And this one right here
I dedicate this one right here
To all my homies out there grindin'
You know what I'm sayin'?
Legally and illegaly, haha (Uproxx)
You know what I'm talkin' about?
So, check it out, uh
First got it when he was six, didn't know any tricks
Matter fact first time he got on it, he slipped
Landed on his hip and busted his lip
For a week he had to talk with a lisp like this
Now we can end the story right here
But shorty didn't quit, it was something in the air
Yeah, he said it was something so appealing
He couldn't fight the feeling, something about it
He knew he couldn't doubt it, couldn't understand it, brand it
Since the first kick flip he landed, uh
Labeled a misfit, a bandit (ka-kump, ka-kump, ka-kump)
His neighbors couldn't stand it
So he was banished to the park
Started in the morning, wouldn't stop 'til after dark
Yeah, when they said its getting late in here
So I'm sorry young man, there's no skating here
And so he kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away he rolled
Jus' a rebel to the world with no place to go
And so he kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come and skate with me
Just a rebel looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
My man got a little older, became a better a roller
Yeah, no helmet, hell bent on killing himself
Is what his momma said but he was feeling himself
Got a little more swagger in his style
Met his girlfriend, she was clapping in the crowd
Love is what was happening to him now, uh
He said "I would marry you
But I'm engaged to these aerials and varials
And I don't think this board is strong enough to carry two"
She said "Bow, I weigh a hundred and twenty pounds
Now, let me make one thing clear
I don't need to ride yours, I got mine right here"
So she took him to a spot he didn't know about
Some modern apartment parking lot
She said "I don't normally take dates in here"
Security came and said "I'm sorry, there's no skating here"
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away they rolled
Just lovers intertwined with no place to go
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come and skate with me
Just a rebel, looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
Yeah, uh (swanky)
Yeah, yeah
Before he knew, he had a crew that wasn't no punk
In they Spitfire shirts and SB dunks
They would push 'til they couldn't skate no more
Office building lobbies wasn't safe no more
And it wasn't like they wasn't getting chased no more
Just the freedom was better than breathing they said (they said)
An escape route they used to escape out
When things got crazy, they needed to break out
They head to any place with stairs
Any good grinds, the world was theirs, uh
And they four wheels would take 'em there
Until the cops came and said "There's no skating here"
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
And away they rolled
Just rebels without a cause with no place to go
And so they kick, push, kick, push
Kick, push, kick, push, coast
So come roll with me
Just a rebel looking for a place to be
So let's kick
And push
And coast
Haha (swanky)
Lyrics submitted by femme_x_fatale
Kick, Push Lyrics as written by Wasalu Jaco Rudolph Lopez
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's very refreshing every time a rap artist releases a song beyond the topic of hoes/money/drugs/ice. Bravo, Lupe! This song is great, I hope it gets really big cos it deserves to. As for the meaning, its pretty straightfoward and the two posts above me pretty much sum it up.