"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.
Gamble everything for love, gamble everything
Put it in a place you keep what you need
You can gamble everything for love if you're free
You gotta gamble everything for love
Baby are ya cold, are ya cold baby
I could wrap you up, wrap you up in my love
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
Tell me are you feeling lost, have you crossed
In the places that you never knew to get through
Tell me are you gonna cry all night
Tell me the truth, and I'll tell you the truth
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Make a list of things you need, leave it empty
Except for number one, write "love, gamble everything"
Keep it under lock and key
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
Love me with an open heart tell me anything
We can find a place to start to gamble everything
We can set this thing apart, 'cause we're gonna, gonna
Gamble everything for love
Tell me do you lose your way each day
Are there people you don't recognize, do they lie?
Tell me does it make you feel too real?
Tell me the truth, and I'll tell you the truth
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Oh you can go your own way
Oh you can go your own way
Oh you gotta go your own way
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
Gamble everything for love, gamble everything
Put it in a place you keep what you need
You can gamble everything for love if you're free
You gotta gamble everything for love
Tell me are you gettin' hurt, is it worth it?
Tell me are the people strange, do they change?
Tell me are you letting go, do you know?
I'll Tell you the truth, if you tell me the truth
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Alright
Put it in a place you keep what you need
You can gamble everything for love if you're free
You gotta gamble everything for love
Baby are ya cold, are ya cold baby
I could wrap you up, wrap you up in my love
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
Tell me are you feeling lost, have you crossed
In the places that you never knew to get through
Tell me are you gonna cry all night
Tell me the truth, and I'll tell you the truth
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Make a list of things you need, leave it empty
Except for number one, write "love, gamble everything"
Keep it under lock and key
If you want to, you can gamble everything for love
Love me with an open heart tell me anything
We can find a place to start to gamble everything
We can set this thing apart, 'cause we're gonna, gonna
Gamble everything for love
Tell me do you lose your way each day
Are there people you don't recognize, do they lie?
Tell me does it make you feel too real?
Tell me the truth, and I'll tell you the truth
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Oh you can go your own way
Oh you can go your own way
Oh you gotta go your own way
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
Gamble everything for love, gamble everything
Put it in a place you keep what you need
You can gamble everything for love if you're free
You gotta gamble everything for love
Tell me are you gettin' hurt, is it worth it?
Tell me are the people strange, do they change?
Tell me are you letting go, do you know?
I'll Tell you the truth, if you tell me the truth
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
If you gamble everything for love
You gonna be alright, alright
Alright
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Fast Car
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Pretty empty lyrics but a good tune. Catchy
@Cherub Rock Many songs require the listener to put something of themselves into hearing it. Maybe their experiences, or their hopes, or their dreams, or their sorrows. So often when someone says they don't get anything out of a song, it may tell us more about the listener than the song itself.
"empty lyrics" .. i like that a lot of songs these days are "empty". Ben Lee gives empty lyrics a new depth...
Empty?! I cant agree, this song is my favorite of his. Anyone who has ever literally gambled everything in thier life for love would understand what this is all about. It may be repetitive but the song has a classic message.
These are not empty lyrics. This song is amazing.
just remeber to not concentrate so hard on the fine print that you miss the BIG PRINT! It is indeed an amazing song. < NOW HOLD ON, i could have stopped writing there but that would leave a pretty 'empty' message! actually it's not, people use words like 'amazing' so often and casually that they loose their definition! By me saying Amazing, there is a lot of depth in that, it means a lot! using words like amazing or brilliant (when meant) say what 3 hours of ellaborating would!
I agree...kinda. These lyrics are empty, but i think that's what makes the song original and authentic and suits the layout and rhythm of the song. Hell, that's just my opinion. I think this song rocks!
i dont think they're empty at all, i think they're expressive and... like youre deepest desire, to throw it all away for the one thing thats really important, even if it is idealistic and a bit irrational... i think it's a really, really beautiful sentiment. I hope to feel this way, one day, to have the guts and the pure feelings to do that.
geh... i'm glad they substitued john ralston for ben lee at the dashboard concert in orlando..
Make a list of things you need, leave it empty Except for number one, write “love”
those are thee best lyrics, i just am obsessed with them. and what a nice sentiment, right?
how can you honestly say that these lyrics are empty? perhaps empty to those you haven't felt a love that would make you feel a song like this. i agree with amygrl about thee best lyrics.. its true.. not empty. quite full of meaning if you ask me.