The lyric “So we can fly...” is completed by “away” in Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
Tracy Chapman wrote and recorded “Fast Car” for her 1988 self-titled debut album. The song tells a first-person story about poverty, family responsibility, romantic hope, and the desire to escape difficult circumstances. The car becomes a symbol of mobility and possibility.
Chapman performed the song at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in 1988, helping bring it to a wide international audience. It reached the top ten in several countries and became one of her signature recordings.
The lyrics are often remembered as an uncomplicated road-trip song, but the narrative is more complex. The dream of leaving is repeatedly tested by economic hardship and an unequal relationship, making “fly away” both literal imagery and emotional shorthand for escape.