"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 read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today, oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book
I'd love to turn you on
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today, oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book
I'd love to turn you on
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on
Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by PTCGAZ, GeoJoe1000, Werbert
A Day In The Life Lyrics as written by Paul Mccartney John Lennon
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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I've always thought the song starts with "About a lucky man who made the GRAVE" which made the first verse be about suicide. The narrator reads the news about a man who had shot himself in a car while perhaps he hadn't noticed that his terrible situation had changed (to what the traffic light might allude to) and thus the situation is ironic/funny – the man shot himself too early to realize things have resolved already. The shot makes his face unrecognizable and so people stand and stare out of shock, wondering if he is ‘famous’. The narrator continues to tell about a movie that he saw and while people couldn’t bear to watch it, his interest was deeper and he continued till the end. This sets him apart from “crowd of people” once again. The line “I’d love to turn you on”, is what lies underneath all this distancing from the “crowd”, the man is in love and all the news/books/movies are just a façade of interests beneath which are the thoughts about the girl he wants. The song switches to another narrator who is more upbeat and whose life is more structured and a little more stressful who does not have time to think about either a woman he might love or the news. His life revolves around the mundane activities of life. The song switches back to the first narrator where he continues to leaf through the newspaper where he notices a peculiar story that he finds funny. But once again, beneath it all are the thoughts about the girl.