“Fast Car” could be read as reflecting the futility of change.
But after a move, the narrator deals with the same issues as in her hometown: alcoholism, poverty, and disillusionment. So, the narrative in “Fast Car” illustrates the cycle of generational inequality and inequity under capitalism.Īlthough Tracy Chapman is not a concept album, there is a thread throughout about the need for change. The song’s narrator begins as wide-eyed and naive, with Chapman singing that the car could enable “a ticket to anywhere”. Robert Dimery, Universe Books, 2005)-but the song is an immediate standout on an album filled with brilliant songwriting and performances.Īfter such a message about revolution, “Fast Car” appears like it could undermine the message that change is possible. Musician Billy Bragg chastised Chapman for the vagueness of the song’s lyrics-what, if anything, was Chapman singing about the methods to accomplish a revolution? (Gareth Thompson in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, ed. “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” rings hopeful about the possibility of real, tangible structural change, with a reverberant 12-string acoustic guitar and Chapman’s arresting rich contralto. Listening to Tracy Chapman reveals optimism about change and realism about the everyday struggles of people trapped in poverty and other systemic forces. “Fast Car” is considered a classic, one of the greatest story songs in popular music, and in 2021 Rolling Stone ranked it in the top 100 on their list of the greatest songs of all time. So, for many, her debut cast a shadow over her career. She has not released an album since 2008, making rare appearances on television for David Letterman and Seth Meyers, where she performed her debut’s opening track, “Talkin'” Bout a Revolution”, on the eve of the 2020 US presidential election. In the years following Tracy Chapman, Chapman’s star faded, though she had a significant resurgence with her 1995 record New Beginning and the single “ Give Me One Reason“. Harris, “What’s Class Got to Do with It? Facets of Tracy Chapman through Song”, The 1980s: A Critical and Transitional Decade, ed. As Chapman was later called the Anti-Material Girl by writer Ian Aldrich, the contrast between Chapman and such stars as Madonna could not have been more marked (Heather E.
As a Black woman singing acoustic guitar-based rock and folk, she stood out from the 1980s pop scene, known for synthesizers, big hair, and makeup obscuring, for some, the music’s substance. Tracy Chapman‘s smash success seemed unlikely. After Chapman performed “Fast Car” at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday celebration, the song became a Billboard top ten hit in the US, with the record reportedly selling over 20 million copies worldwide. The album’s story is familiar to many Chapman fans: raised by a single mother in Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of the prestigious Tufts University, Chapman played at coffeehouses and landed a record deal with Elektra Records, and in April 1988, she released her debut to minimal hype or fanfare. However, the sociopolitical legacy of the record remains in question: even if Chapman’s message was revolutionary, were the social uses to which the album was put revolutionary as well? Despite Chapman’s involvement in concerts for Amnesty International and anti-apartheid causes, the answer then was no, but the album can still inspire a revolution now.
That’s a shame because the album is one of the great singer-songwriter albums in any decade or genre, a masterpiece whose impact continues to grow with succeeding generations. Chapman’s music was overtly political, introspective, and fiercely her own, and in an age of artificial gloss, it managed to appeal to mass audiences.īut beyond the towering “ Fast Car“, covered by everyone from Xiu Xiu to Justin Bieber to Black Pumas to Luke Combs, most songs on Tracy Chapman have been forgotten. Like sociopolitical statements in blues, jazz, gospel, soul, pop, and hip hop, Tracy Chapman met its moment forcefully. With environmental degradation, racist police brutality, poverty, gun violence, and other crises that Chapman sang about persisting, more people are ready for real structural change. Thirty-five years after its release, Chapman’s self-titled debut album may be more important than ever. For many, a shift is in the air, and the time is ripe for doing and moving beyond what singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman called “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution“. As I write this, a new, hopefully, progressive mayor, Brandon Johnson, has just been elected in Chicago, where I live.
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