Really glad to hear that Chapman is not only getting credit as the first Black woman to write a No1 country hit, but she’s getting PAID, because she wrote it solo and owns the rights. #GiftArticle https://t.co/r17hUYueWv
— Isobel Carr (@IsobelCarr) July 14, 2023
This wouldn’t be a good-news story, if not for that key fact. (Dolly Parton never complained about Whitney Houston’s cover of ‘I Will Always Love You’ doing better on the charts than the original, either.)
From the Washington Post, “Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs and the complicated response to ‘Fast Car’”:
Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” is one of those songs that you just feel in your soul: the lyrics about the yearning to escape, the gentle guitar underlying a feeling of despair but also the hope that something better is coming. It can make you cry but also inspire you to belt out the lyrics at the top of your lungs. (“I-eee-I had a feeling that I belonged. I-eee-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone …”)…
In March, country music star Luke Combs, 33, released a new album, “Gettin’ Old,” that included “Fast Car,” a longtime favorite that he covered during live shows for years. But when the track hit streaming services, it took on a life of its own, racking up enormous numbers and going viral on TikTok. Country radio stations started playing it, and the song was suddenly outpacing Combs’s actual single, “Love You Anyway.” Combs and his team were stunned by the response, and his label eventually started promoting “Fast Car” to country radio as well. Last week, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart; it was at No. 3 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart, after peaking at No. 2.
To quite a few people, this is cause for yet another celebration in Combs’s whirlwind journey as the genre’s reigning megastar with 16 consecutive No. 1 hits. But it has also prompted a wave of complicated feelings among some listeners and in the Nashville music community. Although many are thrilled to see “Fast Car” back in the spotlight and a new generation discovering Chapman’s work, it’s clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music…
There has been a concerted effort from some in Nashville to promote inclusivity, particularly since the industry-wide reckoning after the killing of George Floyd in 2020. But despite some individual success stories, the systemic lack of diversity has persisted. Now that Chapman’s classic is on pace to become one of the biggest songs of Combs’s career, there are uneasy and complex emotional responses.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Black artists about it. …We don’t know how to feel,” Holly said, noting that “it did make things a little bit easier” when Chapman, who hasn’t given an interview in years, sent a brief statement to Billboard last week: “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’” (A representative for Chapman declined further comment for this story; Combs’s publicist said he was unavailable for an interview.)
“We can continue to celebrate it,” Holly said, “but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be having these conversations.”…
One reason “Fast Car” hit a nerve is that it’s special to everyone for different reasons. In interviews, Combs has talked about how it was one of the first songs he learned to play on guitar, and how it reminds him of spending time with his dad when he was young. But the song has always had a particular significance in the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, Davenport said; the Black Opry performed a group singalong of “Fast Car” when it closed out its first show. (Chapman does not discuss her personal life, but writer Alice Walker has disclosed their relationship, which occurred in the 1990s.)
“I think the song in general is pretty reflective for a lot of people who do identify as queer, and also for a person of color — the song almost seems like an anthem for us,” Davenport said. “It’s been pretty monumental in our lives, and I think it made us feel like we weren’t alone.”
Francesca Royster, author of “Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions” and an English professor at DePaul University, said the song’s story of the narrator feeling trapped and trying to escape is “a really American iconography” about cars holding the promise of freedom. “This is something country music is very invested in, too: the American dream of reinvention and finding happiness after a life of struggle,” Royster said…
Through it all, one thing is certain: Chapman has now made history. Rolling Stone reported that Chapman, who wrote “Fast Car” by herself, is now the only Black woman to ever have a solo writing credit on a No. 1 country song..
In addition to being pleased by the royalties Chapman is earning from the “Fast Car” cover (Billboard estimated that, because she owns the publishing, she is due a “sizable portion” of Combs’s approximately $500,000 in earnings so far), fans are gratified by the renewed attention on the singer. Aurélie Moulin of France, who has run the definitive Tracy Chapman fan site since 2001 and has social media accounts with more than 2 million combined followers, confirms that discussion of Chapman has “exploded” online — and that the last time a “Fast Car” cover was so hotly debated was when Justin Bieber performed his version in 2016.
As Combs’s cover stays glued near the peak of the Billboard Hot 100, there’s the hope in Nashville and beyond that this can add to the discourse of the urgency of change in country music. Holly of the Black Opry said that now would be a great time for Combs to invite a queer Black female artist to join him on tour or to offer his support: “You used her art to enrich your career, and that opens you up to a little bit of responsibility giving back to the community.”…
I realize it can be hurtful for those of us who remember the magic of Chapman’s original release to see it credited as nostalgia — it reminds [Combs] of spending time with his dad when he was young. But, while it’ll never replace the original for me, Combs’ version is not at all terrible!
Tracy Chapman is trending, but for some reason, none of the stories about her have a recent picture. Fixing that. Tracy Chapman is just so damn gorgeous. pic.twitter.com/CZo8Cb682f
— Naomi Heartbreak (@paranoiapen) July 15, 2023
Bonus: Random quote I ran across while putting this post together —
I love books, I love reading & basically grew up in a public library. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. The one place we were allowed to go was the public library & we spent all our time there. I’d get books home & try to figure out what they were about.
– Tracy Chapman pic.twitter.com/giQAOxdaTH— Into The Forest Dark (@ElliottBlackwe3) July 6, 2023
bucachon
I love this show and they just recently did Fast car https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001ng37
Baud
Reminds me of the “controversy” over Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X.
Fraud Guy
I’m sorry; Comb’s version sounds like the guy with a guitar in your dorm trying to impress a girl by playing a sensitive song; everytime I hear a snippet I just think “eh”.
Paul in KY
Luke is from KY. Lot’s of Combses up in Eastern KY (which is where my dad is from).
eldorado
yea, the getting paid part is pretty amazing and good for ms chapman for managing to hang on to those rights. obviously she isn’t interested in the spotlight personally at this point, but the checks cash
West of the Rockies
Chapman’s original was a gut punch. A beautiful, haunting gut punch. Loved it, even if in certain moods I could not listen to it.
Old School
Time for my country version of “Give Me One Reason”!
Happy Ms. Chapman is making some money. Maybe it’ll encourage her to release another album.
laura
Mike in NC
Another blast from the past. People rediscovered Kate Bush and “Running Up That Hill” from the 1980s this year because of the show “Stranger Things”. Glad that they can still collect royalties for past hits.
rikyrah
Get that $$$$, Tracy👏🏾👏🏾
Alison Rose
@Fraud Guy: Agree, just sounds bland to me. Chapman put so much heart and heft into every word she sang. I can’t listen to All That You Have Is Your Soul without getting a little verklempt.
UncleEbeneezer
Not gonna lie, I never really liked Fast Car as a song. It was just way too repetitive musically. And at the time, I’m sure all the themes went completely over my oblivious, white head. But good for Chapman! She seems like a really cool person. So you love to see it.
kent
What I wonder is … is this a “new” hit, in part, because people in country music land are feeling trapped and unhappy these days? Do the listeners actually identify with the sentiments in the song?
I don’t know if you guys remember Tom Hanks on “Black Jeopardy” on SNL a while back, which suggested there might be overlap between some aspects of MAGA life and the black experience. Is the reaction to this song claiming something similar? Or am I overthinking this? (My wife says I’m overthinking.)
Jerry
I Will Always Love You hit #1 three times: 1974, 1982, 1992. Original release, as part of the soundtrack for Biggest Little Whorehouse in Texas, and the Whitney cover from The Bodyguard. Btw, Dolly wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same freakin’ day!
Youtuber Todd in the Shadows has a great video on this Fast Car cover. Highly recommended.
Alison Rose
@Mike in NC: And DM’s Never Let Me Down Again became a big hit with the kiddos thanks to The Last Of Us. Also, apparently Just Can’t Get Enough was used in Cocaine Bear, which cracked the guys up when they heard about it.
Princess Leia
I am glad he didn’t change the perspective of the singer “I’ll get a job as a checkout girl” as I always felt the punch was the pain of the woman left behind to deal with all the responsibilities while the guy was off with the bottle or the “fast car” while she is left watching her dreams float away. To me that was at the core. So kind of odd to hear it sung by a guy. But I am so glad it is out there again. Such a powerful song.
cain
I have nothing in common with the themes in Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ – but I can’t listen the song without tearing up. I think the general theme of taking a car and getting the fuck out is something we can align on – especially for those growing up in the 70s and 80s. The car was always symbolic of freedom to do things. (well… at first, then you just end up doing errands for your parents. :-)
RaflW
I can listen to Chapman’s song again. There was a long period when I sought to avoid it, after living above someone whose daily “amp up” song around 7:30 am was Fast Car.
Yep, I heard it 5-6 mornings a week, every week, for months and months. No fault of the very talented artist, of course. I sampled the Combs video above for a few second, but it just doesn’t resonate. Is there a studio version of his cover? Still not sure I’d like it, I’m just not a country guy.
MomSense
I didn’t know Tracy while she was at Tufts, but I casually knew her GF. We used to watch tv together in our dorm lounge because neither of us had TVs of our own.
NotMax
@cain
From what I’ve read the percentage of young’uns who know how to drive has been decreasing steadily.
Sure Lurkalot
@UncleEbeneezer:
I think the repetition underscores “the stuck in an inescapable, inevitable rut” message. It makes the song more raw to me.
UncleEbeneezer
Michael Harriott breaks down whether Jason Aldean’s song “Try That In A Small Town” is pro-lynching (Twitter thread) SPOILER: Yes!!:
Soprano2
Tracy Chapman’s first album was one of the first CD’s I bought. I loved the sound of “Fast Car”, and the sound of her voice (although in those pre-Internet days when I first heard the song I thought the singer was a man until I listened to the lyrics). My response to a country singer recording it is that it sounds like a lot of country songs, full of longing for a better life that they can’t seem to quite get to, so it’s not a surprise that a country artist would record it. Kind of a strange song for a man to record, though. We have a customer who has taken to (poorly) singing that song as a karaoke song. I suspect that’s because it is now a country hit.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I was a no-nothing 13 year old white kid when Fast Car came out in 1988. I loved it the first time I heard it and have loved it ever since. Good on Tracy.
Kelly
same
SixStringFanatic
The last image of Tracy in your post somewhere along the line got reversed so it appears that she’s playing left-handed. As a lefty guitar player myself, I got all excited even though I’ve seen her in concert and I KNOW she doesn’t play left-handed. Got me for a second, though!
That is a beautiful song and Ms Chapman is a fantastic artist. Glad to see this young man do right by her song.
vbreakwater
Great reggae version of fast car by Wayne Wonder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4FxmEDGdoQ
Marc
I had an apartment a few blocks from Harvard Square back then. She’d sing on street corners near the station. I remember stopping to listen to her remarkable voice a few times and leaving a dollar in her guitar case.
CaseyL
@kent: I do remember Tom Hanks on Black Jeopardy, and re-watch it on YT every so often. Brilliant bit of writing and acting; definitely had an impact.
The problem, their issues are similar but they blame different causes – and MAGAts blame precisely the wrong ones.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@kent:
No, you are not overthinking. No, it isn’t a surprise this appeals to a country audience. Traditional country is all about poverty and heartbreak. It’s like the blues for poor white people. The lyrics to this song land squarely in that tradition. I know a lot of modern country is bro country and ‘Merica f-yeah music, but recognize that hasn’t always been the case.
Posty
Lurker here. My favorite memory of this song is from In Living Color: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBOHtHg9Ci0.
FastEdD
Yes there is overlap with desperate MAGAs who have lives that suck. The sad part is they were taken in by a conman who promised them better, took their cash and exploited their hate, and threw them in the trash just like he did with everyone else.
Brachiator
Jesus. Whitney Houston didn’t have to have a conversation when she had a huge hit with Parton’s song. I have also seen black people on YouTube react to the Parton original and discover and celebrate her country catalog.
I am certainly glad that Chapman is getting paid and being celebrated. Especially these days when streaming seems to result in lesser amounts coming to artists.
Also a tip of the hat to the country singer and his team who were smart enough to pick such a beautiful song to perform.
NicaKnit
There was an interesting episode of RadioLab (apparently in 2009) that talked about the love of US country music in many different countries in Africa and Asia:
“About a decade ago, we found out that American country music is surprising popular in places like Zimbabwe, Thailand, and South Africa. Aaron Fox, an anthropologist of music at Columbia University, tells us that quite simply, country music tells a story that a lot of us get.”
Link here for those who want to listen: https://radiolab.org/podcast/songs-cross-borders
West of the Rockies
@kent:
I agree with you, Kent. It’s difficult to find sympathy at times with rural Americans (especially white males). But imagine being a young white guy immersed in that rural, toxic-masculinity culture… if you weren’t that guy (macho, arrogant, aggressive), it would be tough. “Fast Car” might well resonate.
Paul in KY
@UncleEbeneezer: The Knockout Game is done by white POSes too.
Mom Says I*m Handsome
In 2004 I rode in the California AIDS ride*, a fundraising cycling event from San Francisco to Los Angeles over seven days. Leaving Lompoc on the fifth day, Tracey Chapman & I set out together and rode silently for a few miles. We didn’t speak, but I was keenly aware of the creative giant riding next to me who had written Fast Car, a song I had listened to countless times since its release when I was in college. It still brings tears to my eyes. I found Luke Combs’ cover solid & respectful.
* The ride has a more formal name but that’s how I heard it over the week. One of the most significant challenges I’ve ever given myself — 585 miles, including four centuries, and I pedaled every inch of it.
Alison Rose
@Mom Says I*m Handsome: Hey, you might’ve cycled alongside an old coworker/friend of mine. He’s done the AIDS Lifecycle for a couple decades now, I believe. The first time he told me about it, I was massively impressed, because even back then when my health wasn’t wrecked, I don’t think I could’ve ridden a bike 5 miles, let alone over 500.
Will
Thank god a reasonable take on the front page. I saw this bullshit from the entirely too online left start spreading a few days ago on social media. Didn’t matter that Chapman was happy for Luke, was collecting tons of money for it, or just happy people were rediscovering her music… how dare that white man STEAL the black woman’s song. I wonder how sad and pathetic the lives of people that have knee jerk responses like that must be. I was worried I’d eventually see the same argument puked up here. Thankfully, no.
Kathleen
@West of the Rockies: It was. I teared up at the opening line and yes, there were times I couldn’t bear to listen to it because her performance was so soulful and heartfelt and I could feel her pain. I’m glad she’s getting attention and the money she deserves. She’s a very gracious lady in addition to being a brilliant composer/lyricist.
Soprano2
@Will: People like this totally misunderstand how music and musicians work. People borrow and change things all the time! As long as there is no theft, and the creator gets paid, it’s all OK, and is actually flattering to the creator. People need to chill out over the “how dare a white man sing a black woman’s song”. Just turn that around and see how dumb it sounds.
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
Hmm. Let’s see. “How dare a black woman sing a white man’s song!”
Pretty much negates Dionne Warwick’s career and her masterful catalog of songs written expressly for her by Hal David and Burt Bacharach.
Dupe1970
@Mike in NC:
And she owns all the rights to that song.
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/ip-at-work/2022/kate-bush.html
Soprano2
@Dupe1970: What all those hand-wringers are actually saying is “How dare a black woman try to make money from her song that she wrote?” It’s super dumb.
Brachiator
@cain:
This has been a thing in America since cowboys and horses, and later translated to cars and the open road.
The TV show Route 66, which premiered in October 1960, captured the essence of traveling just to get away from everything.
There was also a commercial jingle urging people to buy a car just to ride, “See the USA in your Chevrolet…”
“Fast Car” fits deeply in this tradition, even in its wistful sadness.
Central Planning
Is Combs paying her? This sentence makes me think TC is not getting the royalties she is supposed to get.
Heidi Mom
@Brachiator: And then there was Springsteen . . . .
Heidi Mom
@NicaKnit: In An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice, Khizr Khan said that when he came to the US he appreciated country music because it told stories like the music of his native Pakistan.
sab
Tracy Chapman is not a contmporary, but she is my baby sister’s age and this song blew me away back them and I still have it in my head. Say the title and my memory rolls out her doing her her song.
When I first heard his version I thought that is nice but hers was edgier. Then I listened to each more carefully, and I think their approaches are different because of the voice ranges. I like both a lot but I love hers.
Brachiator
@Heidi Mom:
Funny thing about Number One hits…
It’s always amazing when another artist other than the original takes a song to Number One.
NeenerNeener
“Fast Car” is the anthem of every small town girl who married her underemployed boyfriend so she could get the hell out of her parents house, and I will always love it as such.
Hoodie
Of course it’s positive that Combs is exposing Chapman’s music to an audience that might not normally hear it. I don’t get why anyone would be upset with this. This song was a hit when Chapman first released it. I remember her performing on SNL. That was a long time ago, so I don’t get why anyone would be upset about it being performed by someone else, years later. Particularly when Chapman retained the rights and wasn’t, for example, screwed over by some record management. Bands cover old songs all time and some of the covers become hits. What matters is whether the original artist gets credit and remuneration, which appears to be the case here. Beats the hell out of that Aldean garbage.
JML
@Central Planning: Combs wouldn’t be the one that pays her for the royalties; she gets a share of the earnings instead of him or the record company getting all the cash. He isn’t going to be involved in the process. is TC getting all that’s she’s entitled to? Maybe, maybe not but that’s because record companies and their accounting are notorious snakes, but that’s not something to blame Luke Combs for.
I can understand some of the complicated feelings around the success of this song on the country charts. Women songwriters, especially black women songwriters have gotten the fuzzy side of the lollipop for a long time in this country. Country music (both in terms of the industry and the fan base) has often been very hostile to anyone from the LGBTQ community, and the same has been true for it’s attitude to black artists. So for a CIS white dude to get a massive hit in that community that was written by a black, queer, female artist…I get how some people are like WTF. because they’re looking at this and thinking no way would this great piece of music be treated by this community the same way if it was from the original artist. (in part because it wasn’t)
At the end of the day, though, Tracy Chapman’s opinion matters the most here and she’s seems cool with it. And if it opens up the eyes of even one person who listens to country to a broader, more inclusive world…that’s a good thing, right? plus, TC is gettin’ paid and new audiences are discovering her brilliant music, which is awesome as well.
In balance this is a good thing, but it’s fair for people to bring up the not so great issues around it, and hopefully educational for some.
eclare
@NeenerNeener:
It also reminds me of being in high school, as my friends and I got drivers licenses. We would take a car, drive a ways to a park, listening to the radio the whole time. We were away from school and our parents for a few hours, free. Possibilities seemed endless with a car.
TEL
@West of the Rockies: You said better than I could what I feel about this song.
emmyelle
@cain: Reading this article was the first time it occurred to me that the car is the “unifying” themes, so to speak. I am one of these odd people that was never excited about driving or owning a car. When Tracy Chapman burst on the scene with Fast Car in 1988, I had just graduated from college (in a small town) and was about to leave my small home town to go to grad school in New York City. I barely drove in high school and college, and was most excited about not needing a car in NYC. For a total of 12 years, I lived in cities on the east coast and in Europe that had great public transportation, and where not having a car was a feature not a bug.
When I heard the song, back in 1988, I appreciated it as a window into a reality that I was able to conveniently ignore until learning about such things at (my mostly white, incredibly affluent, highly selective) college in my Sociology class. Chapman painted such a vivid, dignified, and empathetic picture of one of the Regan Era’s favorite villains, the single mother “welfare queen” and provided us with a beautiful and tragic narrative of the reality of these lives.
I’m not a country music fan (though I listen to early Taylor Swift for historical and music appreciation purposes, love that one of my favorite Boston-area folkies Lori McKenna writes songs that lesser country artists turn into hits, and think that Dolly Parton is one of the best examples of what God must have had in mind when he created humans), but I heard Comb’s cover in the gym one day. My impulse was to cringe, assume it would be watered down and stripped of its significance. Instead I was blown away. Almost cried.
If this white dude can bring appreciation for this beautiful song and the story it tells, and bring awareness Tracy Chapman’s artistry, I’m cool with it.
Brachiator
@emmyelle:
Before I went to college on the East Coast, I didn’t know any people my age who could not drive a car, even if they didn’t own one.
We had driver’s education and driver’s training classes in high school. In driver’s training, we actually drove cars owned by the school.
pluky
An interviewer once tried to start something by asking Dolly Parton if she was at all bothered by Whitney Huston’s cover of “I will always love you” doing better than Dolly’s. Her reply: Sweetheart, have you never heard of royalties? Miss Huston can cover any of my songs she wants to.
sab
@pluky: I remember that.
Kay
@Brachiator:
That is wild.
NotMax
@Kay
Common practice when I was in high school. Instructor would sit up front in the passenger seat, cars were equipped with dual brake pedals. Students in the class would switch taking turns in the driver’s seat while we were out on the road.
MisterDancer
@Mike in NC: I 1st learned about Kate Bush because Utah Saints sampled “Cloudbusting” (with her permission) for their hit “Something Good,” way back in the early 90s (was a fave of mine!). And before STRANGER THINGS, no less than Big Boi of Outkast called “Running Up” a fave song of his.
Kate Bush isn’t as obscure as we’d think :)
MisterDancer
For me — if Tracy is happy and OK with Luke covering “Fast Car,” (and I assume she’d say if not), I ain’t the one with standing to say shit about it. Kudos to her for the accolades and gettin’ paid!
Brachiator
@MisterDancer:
Kate Bush is not obscure at all. It’s just that she was discovered by a new generation of people. Very cool.
I always loved her “Hounds of Love.”
NutmegAgain
I’m happy for her. A little bit of old-times boasting. “I saw her when” No, but I really did: I was working at (what was then called) a battered women’s shelter in Boston, and there was an event to remember victims of DV. Tracy provided the music, and she was magical. I’m guess she was still busking, and maybe right before she made that first record, and the world began to know her music.
different-church-lady
@Will: The idea that a kind of music should be the exclusive property of a single demographic group has always mystified me.
Emmyelle
@MisterDancer: Who is the “we” who would think Kate Bush is obscure? I’m guessing people under 40?
Miss Bianca
I remember hearing this all over the radio as an undergrad at UM, and I liked it then but it took on a special significance when I heard it on the road when I was hanging out in a peaty-smelling pub in Scotland. Suddenly it was like was no other song in the world.
Ramalama
@Marc:
@MomSense:
Me too Harvard square. I played pick up volleyball with a non-Tufts girlfriend of Tracy’s. I was at a record listening party when Tracy Chapman’s first album had just dropped. Whole house of people listened, talked, and … that’s what we did on a Saturday? Went out to CVS for more soda and RAN into Tracy Chapman right there. No one else in the store knew anything yet but me, star dork. Embarrassed myself. Idiot. But could not get over the synchronicity. Should have bought a lotto ticket.