[Verse 1]



Now fast life cut him like a knife

And this sad story is not so nice

About a fast young kid who was full of tricks

Growin' up too slick and much too quick

A real smart kid, but never went to class

He was too busy out there jettin' fast

Told all the kids that school was square

He did the things that they wouldn't dare

No Pacman, Donkey Kong or game of tag

Cos he was too busy scramblin' nickel bags

Didn't have no morals and showed no shame

And he didn't grow up playing childhood games

Cos what he sees is all he knows

And his heart's in the street, where anything goes

I'm talkin' drugs and dope, crime and corruption

The kid is headed for self-destruction



[Chorus]



(Fast Life) He likes to wheel and deal

(Fast Life) He likes to rob and steal

(Fast Life) How long can a good thing last?

(Fast Life) Hey boy! Don't you jet so fast!



[Verse 2]



Now by the age of twelve he was pullin' strings

And he had his hand on everything

Doin' crazy things to impress his friends

He stole the keys to a brand new Benz

Got behind the wheel, it was just for fun

And then he saw the cops and then he started to run

And like a chase scene from a movie script

He hit the gas and then he started to dip

And like the Knight Rider on TV

Huh, the kid came speedin' down the street

Didn't see that lady with her child

He tried to turn but the car went wild

She saw that car and then she started to shout

But it slammed into her and it took 'em out

He's too young to be in a life of crime

Any other kid, it's their bedtime



[Repeat Chorus]



[Verse 3]



By the age of thirteen he'd set the scene

He was trying to make some heavy green

Started selling cocaine and bundles of dope

Money became his only love

To make cold cash was his vow

He was the man with the plan, the big guy now

He said, "I'm not down where Reagan's planned

So I might as well take all I can"

But that savage ghetto mentality

Is the kind that keeps you in the street

I said, "Hey fast kid, why don't you use your head?

Cos if you don't you'll soon be dead"



[Repeat Chorus]



Uh!



[Break]



1,2,3,4, hit it!



[Verse 4]



Well fast kid, you could use your brains

Or get 'em knocked out with bats and chains

You knew it all but you never learned

You played with fire, and you got burned

Cos if you deal, then you must play

And if you borrow, then you got to pay

And you gotta pay back with no delay

Or six feet under you will lay

One day while standin' on the rooftop

The kid got cornered by the cops

Homeboys were sayin', "I told you so

What a lowdown shame, what a way to go"

Now it is told, and it is said

That at his grave his tombstone read

"He lived too fast and lost his stride

He should of grew up before he died"



(Fast Life) How long can a good thing last?

(Fast Life) Hey boy, don't you jet so fast

(Fast Life) At the end of a shotgun blast

(Fast Life) Your future could be your past



(Fast Life) [Repeat to fade]