Songfacts®:

• In this song, Rascal Flatts frontman Gary LeVox tells his girl she doesn't look "a day over fast cars and freedom," which is his way of saying she's beautiful in his eyes no matter what, and life with her is far better than before. In a Songfacts interview with LeVox, he said it's the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.
  
  "I was young, newly married," he said. "I just became a new dad. The story of that song was how I didn't know what was going on in life. I was a new artist and had just gotten married and just became a dad, so everything was new. It was like, 'Wow, I'm an adult now! I sure want back to when it was just about fast cars.'"
• Gary LeVox wrote this song with the Nashville writers Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher. Released on their third album, Feels Like Today, it's one of a handful of early Rascal Flatts songs a band member had a hand in writing. Based in Nashville, they leaned on the deep pool of writers and musicians there, which worked out very well. Their first five albums all went multi-Platinum, with Feels Like Today selling over 5 million copies. "Fast Cars And Freedom" was the third single and gave them their fourth #1 on the Country chart.
• LeVox was the only band member who was married when they released their first album. The other members, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, enjoyed their fast cars and freedom for a few years, but then settled down. DeMarcus met his wife, Allison, on the set for the "These Days" video, where she was starring as LeVox's vexing ex. They got married in 2004. Rooney tied the knot in 2006.
• Music videos were big for Rascal Flatts but also a big commitment. The songs "Feels Like Today" and "Skin" got elaborate concept video, but "Fast Cars And Freedom" came with a simple live video.
• Rascal Flatts performed this song with Journey when both bands appeared at a CMT Crossroads concert in New Orleans before Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.