"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.
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta love the sweet taste of India
Blame it on the beat of the drum
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
Yeah, she's got that kind of love incense
That lives in her back room
And when it mixes with the funk my friend
It turns into perfume
When you are born
You're afraid of the darkness
Then you're afraid of the light
But I'm not afraid
When I dance with my shadow
This time I'm gonna get it right
To think of what I'll get tonight
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
Her Yin and Yang
Is just the thing
She's unpredictable my friend
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
It's like your first taste, love, of vindaloo
That sets your heart on fire
And if you let her stuff get into you
It will be all that you desire
When you make love to
A sweet tantric priestess
You drink in the bliss of delight
But I'm not afraid
When I dance with her shadow
This time I'm gonna get it right
She's gonna wake my appetite
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
She a friend of mine
She a concubine
The sweetest wine
I gotta make her mine
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta love the sweet taste of India
Blame it on the beat of the drum
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
Just think of what I'll get tonight
She's gonna wake my appetite
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
Yow, yow...
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta love the sweet taste of India
Blame it on the beat of the drum
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
Yeah, she's got that kind of love incense
That lives in her back room
And when it mixes with the funk my friend
It turns into perfume
When you are born
You're afraid of the darkness
Then you're afraid of the light
But I'm not afraid
When I dance with my shadow
This time I'm gonna get it right
To think of what I'll get tonight
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
Her Yin and Yang
Is just the thing
She's unpredictable my friend
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
It's like your first taste, love, of vindaloo
That sets your heart on fire
And if you let her stuff get into you
It will be all that you desire
When you make love to
A sweet tantric priestess
You drink in the bliss of delight
But I'm not afraid
When I dance with her shadow
This time I'm gonna get it right
She's gonna wake my appetite
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
She a friend of mine
She a concubine
The sweetest wine
I gotta make her mine
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta love the sweet taste of India
Blame it on the beat of the drum
God I love the sweet taste of India
Lingers on the tip of my tongue
Gotta know that what's gotten into you
Any cat man do when it's done
Just think of what I'll get tonight
She's gonna wake my appetite
Just lookin' for a little taste
(A Taste Of India)
She'll steal the smile right off your face
Yow, yow...
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Fast Car
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I heard it's about sex with the Hindu goddess Vishnu