You got a fast car
July 16, 2023 10:28 AM Subscribe
“On one hand, Luke Combs is an amazing artist, and it’s great to see that someone in country music is influenced by a Black queer woman — that’s really exciting… But at the same time, it’s hard to really lean into that excitement knowing that Tracy Chapman would not be celebrated in the industry without that kind of middleman being a White man.” On the complicated reaction to the Luke Comb’s cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car.
Todd in the Shadows just put out a video about this, POP SONG REVIEW: "Fast Car" by Luke Combs
posted by Tenuki at 10:42 AM on July 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by Tenuki at 10:42 AM on July 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
I was literally just getting ready to post the Todd In The Shadows link as well.
He brings up the "oh fuck, another case of a white guy appropriating a black musician's stuff" wrinkle a bit...but also points out that Combs didn't gender-swap the lyrics for his cover, and that's actually a tiny bit commendable. Part of his review is of Chapman's original song as well.
And that's actually what leads to his biggest critique of Combs' cover: it's extremely faithful to the original. Maybe a bit more drum in the mix, but otherwise the pacing, the tune, a lot of it is exactly the same. So....what was the point of Combs covering the song in the first place?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:43 AM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
He brings up the "oh fuck, another case of a white guy appropriating a black musician's stuff" wrinkle a bit...but also points out that Combs didn't gender-swap the lyrics for his cover, and that's actually a tiny bit commendable. Part of his review is of Chapman's original song as well.
And that's actually what leads to his biggest critique of Combs' cover: it's extremely faithful to the original. Maybe a bit more drum in the mix, but otherwise the pacing, the tune, a lot of it is exactly the same. So....what was the point of Combs covering the song in the first place?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:43 AM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
So....what was the point of Combs covering the song in the first place?
Because he really likes the song?
posted by Thorzdad at 10:45 AM on July 16, 2023 [44 favorites]
Because he really likes the song?
posted by Thorzdad at 10:45 AM on July 16, 2023 [44 favorites]
And wanted to share it and given that I’d not heard the original till now I guess was successful?
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
posted by Artw at 10:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
posted by Artw at 10:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
I'm putting this here for anybody who hasn't heard the cover by this Luke Combs guy (like me).
posted by sardonyx at 10:53 AM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 10:53 AM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Guys, I'm just reporting what Todd said, sheesh.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:53 AM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:53 AM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
Tracy Chapman appears to have used the fame and fortune of her almost miraculous first album to transform herself into a 'babe', which I would say is 100% her right to do if I thought it was in any way my business to judge her choices in the first place, which I don’t.
But her voice has changed, and I find it a lot less appealing than I did before.
but otherwise the pacing, the tune, a lot of it is exactly the same. So....what was the point of Combs covering the song in the first place?
Maybe the point is that he did it the way she did because she won’t — or can’t.
posted by jamjam at 10:57 AM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
But her voice has changed, and I find it a lot less appealing than I did before.
but otherwise the pacing, the tune, a lot of it is exactly the same. So....what was the point of Combs covering the song in the first place?
Maybe the point is that he did it the way she did because she won’t — or can’t.
posted by jamjam at 10:57 AM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Tracy Chapman appears to have used the fame and fortune of her almost miraculous first album to transform herself into a 'babe', ... Maybe the point is that he did it the way she did because she won’t — or can’t.
Um... uh... NathanFillionConfused.gif... really?
posted by Naberius at 11:03 AM on July 16, 2023 [47 favorites]
Um... uh... NathanFillionConfused.gif... really?
posted by Naberius at 11:03 AM on July 16, 2023 [47 favorites]
I'm happy to see this post.
I'm a country music fan (hey, I like all genres, so don't judge me) and I remember when Luke Combs' cover started getting airplay earlier this year. The country-music DJ's on SiriusXM were ecstatic about this song, and they would talk about the story of how Luke Combs listened to Tracy Chapman's song as a child, riding around in his dad's truck and hearing the song on the cassette deck. Luke's version is still getting a lot of airplay on all the country stations and has now moved over to the pop and top-40 stations as well.
I played the Luke Combs song for my wife. "Wait a second, this is a country artist?" she said. "Yes," I replied, "he always played it during his concerts and now he's released a cover."
"Huh," she said. "I like Tracy Chapman's version better".
And so we played that version as well (thanks Alexa!) and we had fun listening to both versions. It's a great song no matter what.
"So, the country folks are listening to this cover of the Tracy Chapman song?" she asked me.
"Yup," I said. "And, they love it."
"Well, that's pretty cool", she said.
And that's pretty cool, you know? It's a great song, and Tracy Chapman is a great artist, and now a whole new generation and a whole new genre of music is experiencing the genius of this talented songwriter. Music brings us together. Kudos to Luke for keeping the lyrics exactly the same (including the gender-specific "... so I work in a market as a checkout girl ..."). It's clear that Luke is doing this because he loves the original song exactly as it is and he wants more people to enjoy it.
Is it complicated? Of course it is. Everything is complicated.
But also, this is a great song and now even more people love Tracy Chapman.
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 11:14 AM on July 16, 2023 [41 favorites]
I'm a country music fan (hey, I like all genres, so don't judge me) and I remember when Luke Combs' cover started getting airplay earlier this year. The country-music DJ's on SiriusXM were ecstatic about this song, and they would talk about the story of how Luke Combs listened to Tracy Chapman's song as a child, riding around in his dad's truck and hearing the song on the cassette deck. Luke's version is still getting a lot of airplay on all the country stations and has now moved over to the pop and top-40 stations as well.
I played the Luke Combs song for my wife. "Wait a second, this is a country artist?" she said. "Yes," I replied, "he always played it during his concerts and now he's released a cover."
"Huh," she said. "I like Tracy Chapman's version better".
And so we played that version as well (thanks Alexa!) and we had fun listening to both versions. It's a great song no matter what.
"So, the country folks are listening to this cover of the Tracy Chapman song?" she asked me.
"Yup," I said. "And, they love it."
"Well, that's pretty cool", she said.
And that's pretty cool, you know? It's a great song, and Tracy Chapman is a great artist, and now a whole new generation and a whole new genre of music is experiencing the genius of this talented songwriter. Music brings us together. Kudos to Luke for keeping the lyrics exactly the same (including the gender-specific "... so I work in a market as a checkout girl ..."). It's clear that Luke is doing this because he loves the original song exactly as it is and he wants more people to enjoy it.
Is it complicated? Of course it is. Everything is complicated.
But also, this is a great song and now even more people love Tracy Chapman.
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 11:14 AM on July 16, 2023 [41 favorites]
Like its singer, “Fast Car” is nothing if not resilient, and all these bumps in the road have not damaged the integrity of the original. “Me myself I got nothing to prove,” Chapman declares in the song. That’s been true ever since that emotive afternoon in June 1988.
From an earlier, interesting & pertinent look at "Fast Car" & its covers. [Financial Times; 2016]
posted by chavenet at 11:19 AM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
From an earlier, interesting & pertinent look at "Fast Car" & its covers. [Financial Times; 2016]
posted by chavenet at 11:19 AM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Fast Car" is a wonderful song, and I think it's been long enough since it was a hit that a faithful cover's more a good thing than a "why bother" - introducing the song to a new generation. At least some of those listeners will be curious enough to look up Chapman's back catalogue.
posted by Daily Alice at 11:20 AM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 11:20 AM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
The cover is good at being a song for exactly the same reason it’s bad at being a cover; it doesn’t change enough from the original to really have anything original to say. But Tracy Chapman is charting again and getting fucking paid off of this and if that’s what it’s going to take for her to get her “Kate Bush in Stranger Things” renaissance I’ll happily tip my hat to everyone involved.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:22 AM on July 16, 2023 [37 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:22 AM on July 16, 2023 [37 favorites]
(Tracy Chapman has become the first Black woman to have the sole songwriting credit on a #1 Country hit.)
posted by box at 11:25 AM on July 16, 2023 [53 favorites]
posted by box at 11:25 AM on July 16, 2023 [53 favorites]
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
Actually trying to be helpful: If you moved to the states after the early 90s, probably just an artifact of different media markets in the US and UK.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:26 AM on July 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
Actually trying to be helpful: If you moved to the states after the early 90s, probably just an artifact of different media markets in the US and UK.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:26 AM on July 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
Chapman won a Grammy for "Fast Car" and two more for the albumTracy Chapman, on which it appeared. It's of the best selling albums of all time with over 20 million copies worldwide. Chapman, and "Fast Car" in particular, continue to receive critical acclaim--it's currently number 71 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:36 AM on July 16, 2023 [26 favorites]
posted by hydrophonic at 11:36 AM on July 16, 2023 [26 favorites]
Is the article writer really trying to propose Chapman’s recording wasn’t a massive hit???
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2023 [13 favorites]
I like the Jim O'Rourke version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJWxkYu8WgU
posted by anazgnos at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by anazgnos at 11:40 AM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chapman won a Grammy for "Fast Car" and two more for the albumTracy Chapman, on which it appeared. It's of the best selling albums of all time with over 20 million copies worldwide. Chapman, and "Fast Car" in particular, continue to receive critical acclaim--it's currently number 71 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Not picking on anyone, but this is tangential at best to the point of the article, which is not that Tracy Chapman is an unknown or uncelebrated artist.
The argument is also not that it's bad for Luke Combs to cover this song because he's a white dude, which is another strawman that I don't see in this thread but that is definitely out there.
It is that country music radio has a problem with black artists. And queer artists. And women artists. Country radio plays overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly white male artists. The fact that Luke Combs' very faithful cover of Fast Car is getting this kind of airplay on country radio is a testament to how big he is right now, and how great the song is, but it also highlights for people the fact that black queer women artists can't expect to get this kind of airplay on modern country radio no matter how strong the song is.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:43 AM on July 16, 2023 [56 favorites]
Not picking on anyone, but this is tangential at best to the point of the article, which is not that Tracy Chapman is an unknown or uncelebrated artist.
The argument is also not that it's bad for Luke Combs to cover this song because he's a white dude, which is another strawman that I don't see in this thread but that is definitely out there.
It is that country music radio has a problem with black artists. And queer artists. And women artists. Country radio plays overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly white male artists. The fact that Luke Combs' very faithful cover of Fast Car is getting this kind of airplay on country radio is a testament to how big he is right now, and how great the song is, but it also highlights for people the fact that black queer women artists can't expect to get this kind of airplay on modern country radio no matter how strong the song is.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:43 AM on July 16, 2023 [56 favorites]
As a teenager (this is back in the 70's), I fell in love with the Talking Heads' song "Take Me to the River". I had the album on vinyl and I played it over and over.
And then I found out that the David Byrne song was just a cover of the Al Green original, so it was back to the record store for me, and that led to such wonderful treasures from Al Green and other soul artists. And then I discovered that Al Green had done a cover of "I Can't Get Close To You" by the Temptations, and so now I had to go buy some albums by the Temptations, and let me tell you, the Temptations are fucking awesome and so there went my very limited record-buying budget.
And so if some country kid today likes the Luke Combs song and decides to download the Tracy Chapman original album and then discovers Tracy's "Give Me One Reason" and from there moves on to other 80's/90's singer-songwriters, it's all good.
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 11:44 AM on July 16, 2023 [48 favorites]
And then I found out that the David Byrne song was just a cover of the Al Green original, so it was back to the record store for me, and that led to such wonderful treasures from Al Green and other soul artists. And then I discovered that Al Green had done a cover of "I Can't Get Close To You" by the Temptations, and so now I had to go buy some albums by the Temptations, and let me tell you, the Temptations are fucking awesome and so there went my very limited record-buying budget.
And so if some country kid today likes the Luke Combs song and decides to download the Tracy Chapman original album and then discovers Tracy's "Give Me One Reason" and from there moves on to other 80's/90's singer-songwriters, it's all good.
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 11:44 AM on July 16, 2023 [48 favorites]
Tracy Chapman Reacts To Luke Combs’ Cover of ‘Fast Car’: Exclusive
“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there,” Chapman tells Billboard in an exclusive statement. “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
posted by chavenet at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [17 favorites]
“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there,” Chapman tells Billboard in an exclusive statement. “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
posted by chavenet at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [17 favorites]
In Living Color: The Making of a Tracy Chapman Song (from sometime in the early 90s)
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:47 AM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
For the record, Combs' cover makes me sob like the original makes me sob and I'm glad it's out there. I hope people do discover Tracy Chapman through this and I think they will.
But current black country artists should also get airplay so they can also get discovered. That's where the complicated feelings come in.
Will try to come back with suggestions when not on my phone, but there's a great FPP on one of the artists quoted in the article, Jake Blount, that's worth checking out for starters.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:48 AM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
But current black country artists should also get airplay so they can also get discovered. That's where the complicated feelings come in.
Will try to come back with suggestions when not on my phone, but there's a great FPP on one of the artists quoted in the article, Jake Blount, that's worth checking out for starters.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:48 AM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Tracy Chapman appears to have used the fame and fortune of her almost miraculous first album to transform herself into a 'babe', which I would say is 100% her right to do if I thought it was in any way my business to judge her choices in the first place, which I don’t.
But her voice has changed, and I find it a lot less appealing than I did before.
JamJam, I'm honestly baffled by this, but maybe you're seeing something I'm not? (I mean, this is a latest live performance I can find from her.)
posted by minervous at 12:07 PM on July 16, 2023 [18 favorites]
But her voice has changed, and I find it a lot less appealing than I did before.
JamJam, I'm honestly baffled by this, but maybe you're seeing something I'm not? (I mean, this is a latest live performance I can find from her.)
posted by minervous at 12:07 PM on July 16, 2023 [18 favorites]
Is the article writer really trying to propose Chapman’s recording wasn’t a massive hit???No, she's really not. Did you bother to read the article?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:23 PM on July 16, 2023
When I saw that Todd In The Shadows video a couple of days ago, it made me unexpectedly cry really hard. Not just like "it's dusty in here" but "retreat to my bedroom and cry into my pillow". I have NO idea exactly why it hit me that hard. Getting older means I'm more emotionally labile, but wow, right out of left field with that one.
We've had Charlie Pride and Darius Rucker and I those are the only two black country stars with any success I can think of.
Back when they were at the peak of their popularity, Indigo Girls were largely shunned by Rolling Stone magazine. Amy even wrote a song about Jann Wenner being an ass.
The gatekeepers in the music industry are real. I wish all the markets would open up for a much wider variety of people in all ways.
posted by hippybear at 12:38 PM on July 16, 2023 [13 favorites]
We've had Charlie Pride and Darius Rucker and I those are the only two black country stars with any success I can think of.
Back when they were at the peak of their popularity, Indigo Girls were largely shunned by Rolling Stone magazine. Amy even wrote a song about Jann Wenner being an ass.
The gatekeepers in the music industry are real. I wish all the markets would open up for a much wider variety of people in all ways.
posted by hippybear at 12:38 PM on July 16, 2023 [13 favorites]
In all sincerity, I'm thinking JamJam may have actually mistaken someone else for Chapman, because aside from "growing older" she appears and sounds exactly the way she did back then. And I'm an old, so I was definitely listening to her back then.
And hey, true story, I'm a person who once was thinking "Tori Spelling" when someone was actually talking to me about "Tori Amos" and that certainly painted a weird-as-hell picture in my head.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:41 PM on July 16, 2023 [18 favorites]
And hey, true story, I'm a person who once was thinking "Tori Spelling" when someone was actually talking to me about "Tori Amos" and that certainly painted a weird-as-hell picture in my head.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:41 PM on July 16, 2023 [18 favorites]
@the primroses were over
Thank you for articulating what I was feeling, but couldn't quite put my finger on. This is not a 'countrified' version at all, but a faithful rendition. If that's the case; maybe Country Music stations should have been playing the original since 1989!
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:01 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
Thank you for articulating what I was feeling, but couldn't quite put my finger on. This is not a 'countrified' version at all, but a faithful rendition. If that's the case; maybe Country Music stations should have been playing the original since 1989!
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:01 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
Given a statement from Tracy Chapman saying she's honored and happy about the success of the cover, I feel like it would be a bit paternalistic of me to have a problem with it.
posted by allegedly at 1:04 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by allegedly at 1:04 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I do think that the heart of this discussion isn't actually about how Tracy Chapman feels to be getting tones of royalties off a Luke Combs cover of her song, but of the ongoing difficulty for Black (and especially queer Black) artists to get recognition on the country charts.
And to do my part, allow me to link to the wonderful Joy Oladokun, (YouTube link) who has spoken a bit about how hard it's been to break into the industry as a queer Black woman in some of the introductions to her songs.
posted by TwoStride at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
And to do my part, allow me to link to the wonderful Joy Oladokun, (YouTube link) who has spoken a bit about how hard it's been to break into the industry as a queer Black woman in some of the introductions to her songs.
posted by TwoStride at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
A few years back there was another cover of this song that got a lot of airplay on Canadian radio. No, I'm not sure who it was (although it might have been Jess Moskaluke), so in terms of royalties and reaching new audiences, Fast Car has been doing well for Chapman.
posted by sardonyx at 1:28 PM on July 16, 2023
posted by sardonyx at 1:28 PM on July 16, 2023
From the linked article:
“I think the big lesson here is Black women belonged in country music all along,” Holly said. “If that song can chart as No. 1 today in country, it should have charted in [1988]. ... The only thing different is a White man is singing the song. I hope that’s a lesson that people take away from it: Our art is good enough and deserves to be recognized on the same scale.”
To me, this is the point. It's great that the song is doing well, and that more people are listening to Chapman because of it. And I hope this gets them thinking that if this one song can resonate with them so much, maybe there is more work by Black women and others out there that should be given a chance. The doors need to open both ways.
(It's interesting, for example, that when I went to listen to the Combs cover on my Apple Music account, the next recommendations were all for white male country artists, not for Chapman or anyone more demographically like her.)
posted by rpfields at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
“I think the big lesson here is Black women belonged in country music all along,” Holly said. “If that song can chart as No. 1 today in country, it should have charted in [1988]. ... The only thing different is a White man is singing the song. I hope that’s a lesson that people take away from it: Our art is good enough and deserves to be recognized on the same scale.”
To me, this is the point. It's great that the song is doing well, and that more people are listening to Chapman because of it. And I hope this gets them thinking that if this one song can resonate with them so much, maybe there is more work by Black women and others out there that should be given a chance. The doors need to open both ways.
(It's interesting, for example, that when I went to listen to the Combs cover on my Apple Music account, the next recommendations were all for white male country artists, not for Chapman or anyone more demographically like her.)
posted by rpfields at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
When I saw that Todd In The Shadows video a couple of days ago, it made me unexpectedly cry really hard. Not just like "it's dusty in here" but "retreat to my bedroom and cry into my pillow". I have NO idea exactly why it hit me that hard. Getting older means I'm more emotionally labile, but wow, right out of left field with that one.
It's because it's a deeply depressing song. A song about growing up in generational poverty and hoping and planning on getting the fuck out of there. The problem is, shit jobs (if you're lucking to get one) pay shit wages so you cannot afford to move anywhere and besides, you've got parent(s) to care for because they are sick.
The first time I heard that song back in the day, it brought me right back to my days of living in Northern Michigan where a bunch of my friends lived in generational poverty. Senior year in high school and the talk would be about getting the fuck out of that shithole town for the army or navy or whatever. Four years later, they're back at their parents, working at a gas station or grocery store if they were lucky, seasonal tourist jobs for the rest, and taking care of a sick parent.
posted by NoMich at 1:40 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
It's because it's a deeply depressing song. A song about growing up in generational poverty and hoping and planning on getting the fuck out of there. The problem is, shit jobs (if you're lucking to get one) pay shit wages so you cannot afford to move anywhere and besides, you've got parent(s) to care for because they are sick.
The first time I heard that song back in the day, it brought me right back to my days of living in Northern Michigan where a bunch of my friends lived in generational poverty. Senior year in high school and the talk would be about getting the fuck out of that shithole town for the army or navy or whatever. Four years later, they're back at their parents, working at a gas station or grocery store if they were lucky, seasonal tourist jobs for the rest, and taking care of a sick parent.
posted by NoMich at 1:40 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
As noted in previous discussions of this song on Metafilter, the gender swapped version annoys me, because it changes the meaning of the song in important ways that I think really water it down. That this cover by a man kept the original lyrics also changes the meaning, but in much more interesting ways.
posted by eviemath at 1:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 1:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Looking forward to a cover of Talking Bout a Revolution by Allison Russell charting next...
posted by the primroses were over at 1:59 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 1:59 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
The article mentions how Hound Dog and When the Levee Breaks had the originals usurped in public consciousness by covers. On the other hand, it used to be considerably more effort to track down original versions. It will be interesting to see how our modern 'everything available at any time' resources change (or don't) that type of transition.
posted by Sparx at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Sparx at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
It’s also interesting because so many country hits now are basically about growing up as part of the white, exurban/rural upper class. Like, the number of songs reminiscing about being a teen boy with plenty of free time and inherited knowledge of the land, a truck, loyal friends, consequence free access to alcohol, a loving family, and a beautiful girlfriend is amazing.
posted by smelendez at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by smelendez at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
So this white guy should not have recorded his version of a song written by a Black woman? Someone please send this to Lawrence Brownlee.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:49 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 2:49 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't think anyone is saying he shouldn't have recorded it. Many in this thread are celebrating it and how it's is bringing a rather seminal voice from the 90s "women with guitars" moment back into the public mind. Everyone is just remarking on how black women have never had success in country music and there's an irony that is difficult to look away from.
posted by hippybear at 2:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
So this white guy should not have recorded his version of a song written by a Black woman? Someone please send this to Lawrence Brownlee.
Would recommend reading the article.
posted by Artw at 3:12 PM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
Would recommend reading the article.
posted by Artw at 3:12 PM on July 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
Rhiannon Gidden's show had introduced me to a number of Black women who should all be represented in country music today but are not.
posted by Thrakburzug at 3:38 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by Thrakburzug at 3:38 PM on July 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
The original was absolutely perfect and I love Tracy Chapman. I really hate the remake. It doesn't have the same emotional impact of the original and it seems like he's just singing the words without actually having lived it.
posted by mike3k at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by mike3k at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
Had the TC album in high school and saw her perform live at an Amnesty International concert in...maybe 88? Sting, Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, kd lang (in her rockabilly phase) and tracy chapman. And she sat center stage at Maple Leaf Gardens and sang Fast Car on her acoustic with a single unmoving spotlight while the whole stadium just sat there in rapt silence. of the whole show, i'd relive that part if I could (or maybe at the end when they all sang "get up stand up"...but it's close.)
Relatedly, tracey chapman also singsone of my alltime favorite songs (SLYT) which you should get to know if you don't already.
posted by hearthpig at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Relatedly, tracey chapman also singsone of my alltime favorite songs (SLYT) which you should get to know if you don't already.
posted by hearthpig at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm not going to lie--this song for me is a woman's song and a woman's song only. There really aren't many songs I feel that way about. But I'm glad for anything putting dollars in Chapman's pocket, and I encourage everybody to go back and listen to that first album. The politics sometimes make the lyrics a little clunky, but it's quite something.
posted by praemunire at 3:41 PM on July 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 3:41 PM on July 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
(Also totally at a loss about the "babe" comment...she grew out locs for a while, I think, but her style really hasn't changed that much since the 80s.)
posted by praemunire at 3:43 PM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 3:43 PM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
As usual, Saving Country Music has a good commentary, On the Luke Combs Version of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car Going Viral, which is worth reading alongside the WaPo article:
posted by verstegan at 3:49 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
As a song and as an arrangement, it’s hard to characterize “Fast Car” by Luke Combs as “country.” It’s mostly acoustic and completely organic, which means it’s not offensive to the country audience. But Combs did not attempt to “country it up” so to speak by adding banjo or singing it with an especially twangy voice. There is some ambient steel guitar, but Combs was mostly respectful of the original approach. He didn’t really try to “make it his own” as is often said about cover songs. “Fast Car” is an American folk song, and that is the treatment Luke Combs gives it.Just as MetaFilter used to bill itself as 'the plastic.com it's okay to like', so I think of Luke Combs as 'the Morgan Wallen it's okay to like'.
Of course, some have claimed this song is appropriation by Luke Combs, and it’s sacrilege to have a white male country superstar sing it since it was a song written by a Black woman from a decidedly Black woman’s perspective. But this is why it’s important to point back to the organic nature of the track’s rise. This was just supposed to be an album cut—an homage to the original that Luke Combs recorded because he wanted to. It’s the public that has put “Fast Car” on the trajectory it currently enjoys.
posted by verstegan at 3:49 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm not going to lie--this song for me is a woman's song and a woman's song only.
I agree with praemunire on this. The song doesn’t make sense sung by a cis man at all. I mean, points to Combs for trying, and I hope it brings attention back to Chapman, but I don’t think he can or does add much to it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:57 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I agree with praemunire on this. The song doesn’t make sense sung by a cis man at all. I mean, points to Combs for trying, and I hope it brings attention back to Chapman, but I don’t think he can or does add much to it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:57 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
There's a long tradition of people singing songs about a character that is not the singer. Does "Angel From Montgomery" make sense sung by a cis man?
posted by Daily Alice at 5:08 PM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 5:08 PM on July 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
As long as we’re talking about Tracy Chapman and covers, I’d just like to say that I’ll go to my grave not understanding how Baby Can I Hold You didn’t become a massive hit for her. I slightly resent having first heard that song in its bland Boyzone version.
posted by Kattullus at 5:17 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 5:17 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
That’s a good question. The original is regularly on the radio in my neck of the woods. It’s hard to imaging never hearing it before now.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:34 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
That’s a good question. The original is regularly on the radio in my neck of the woods. It’s hard to imaging never hearing it before now.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:34 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
And then I found out that the David Byrne song was just a cover of the Al Green original, so it was back to the record store for me, and that led to such wonderful treasures from Al Green and other soul artists.
To me the best version is Take Me to the River -- Syl Johnson, Al Green's labelmate, sharing the fabulous Hi Records Rhythm Section under the direction of the equally fabulous Willie Mitchell. And then there is this as a lagniappe.
posted by y2karl at 5:37 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
To me the best version is Take Me to the River -- Syl Johnson, Al Green's labelmate, sharing the fabulous Hi Records Rhythm Section under the direction of the equally fabulous Willie Mitchell. And then there is this as a lagniappe.
posted by y2karl at 5:37 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Does "Angel From Montgomery" make sense sung by a cis man?
I dunno. I’m not talking about that song, just this one. Maybe it’s more, “if you come at the Queen, you’d best not miss,” and Combs has already hamstrung himself. If you compare the two, he doesn’t rate, and the best he can hope to do is draw attention to the earlier, better version.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:37 PM on July 16, 2023
I dunno. I’m not talking about that song, just this one. Maybe it’s more, “if you come at the Queen, you’d best not miss,” and Combs has already hamstrung himself. If you compare the two, he doesn’t rate, and the best he can hope to do is draw attention to the earlier, better version.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:37 PM on July 16, 2023
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
This song might get a little radio play, but it is definitely a mood, and that makes it rare for most stations. You don't casually listen to Fast Car, you fall into it, you work your way through the downs and downs and ups and downs and downs and downs. It's that late night where fuck it you just crack a third Bud because your bank just charged you an overdraft fee and you've been cutting the mold off your bread, and life's fleeting joys and dreams are once again overwhelmed by brutal realities of capitalism.
It's not a casual listener magnet, it's an experience that will either absolutely suck you in or make you change stations faster than that car because you know the depths it plumbs and the space for them simply does not exist today.
Come to think of it, it's exactly what I need to listen to right now.
posted by ptfe at 5:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
This song might get a little radio play, but it is definitely a mood, and that makes it rare for most stations. You don't casually listen to Fast Car, you fall into it, you work your way through the downs and downs and ups and downs and downs and downs. It's that late night where fuck it you just crack a third Bud because your bank just charged you an overdraft fee and you've been cutting the mold off your bread, and life's fleeting joys and dreams are once again overwhelmed by brutal realities of capitalism.
It's not a casual listener magnet, it's an experience that will either absolutely suck you in or make you change stations faster than that car because you know the depths it plumbs and the space for them simply does not exist today.
Come to think of it, it's exactly what I need to listen to right now.
posted by ptfe at 5:58 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I have never once heard this song in its original version on the radio. I think it may have arrived at exactly a moment when local radio markets were getting gobbled up and it got cut from the corporate overlords' programming because it is sad. But that's just an unsubstantiated theory.
My high school girlfriend put it on a mixtape and for that I'm forever grateful. Otherwise I'd be hearing it for the first time now, from Metafilter. Doozy of a song and album.
posted by kensington314 at 6:16 PM on July 16, 2023
My high school girlfriend put it on a mixtape and for that I'm forever grateful. Otherwise I'd be hearing it for the first time now, from Metafilter. Doozy of a song and album.
posted by kensington314 at 6:16 PM on July 16, 2023
Wuff, this really is a song that stops time every time you hear it.
posted by kensington314 at 6:16 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 6:16 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
From the article she is getting paid, so for once at least that part of things is not so fucked.
Let Tracy Chapman get her mailbox money. She deserves it. As long as that is taken care of, any additional discourse is just about aesthetics.
posted by jonp72 at 6:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Let Tracy Chapman get her mailbox money. She deserves it. As long as that is taken care of, any additional discourse is just about aesthetics.
posted by jonp72 at 6:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Does "Angel From Montgomery" make sense sung by a cis man?
Not as much sense as it does when Bonnie Raitt did it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:56 PM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Not as much sense as it does when Bonnie Raitt did it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:56 PM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Does "Angel From Montgomery" make sense sung by a cis man?
Like its writer, John Prine? I'm a bit confused, tbh.
Love the original Fast Car, and not moved by the Combs' version.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 7:02 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Like its writer, John Prine? I'm a bit confused, tbh.
Love the original Fast Car, and not moved by the Combs' version.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 7:02 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
On the one hand, I'm happy she's getting recognition and money.
On the other hand, it certainly is our world that the only way she gets that is to have her work filtered through a white guy, because THEN people look, listen, notice.
That said, I've known the song for years and years, it's at karaoke, etc. so it hasn't been totally not seen in the public eye. This is just the country audience finally noticing, correct?
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:05 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
On the other hand, it certainly is our world that the only way she gets that is to have her work filtered through a white guy, because THEN people look, listen, notice.
That said, I've known the song for years and years, it's at karaoke, etc. so it hasn't been totally not seen in the public eye. This is just the country audience finally noticing, correct?
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:05 PM on July 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I heard this recently, and guess I'm in the camp of: is probably a net positive that more people are discovering Tracy Chapman. And even if it brings up the airplay discrimination issue, that's a good thing, no? Without this cover, the issue would get far less media attention. And it's not Combs fault that radio plays his music. What he does w/ that attention I guess is open to criticism though.
But strictly as a music fan, I definitely like Tracy's version. It's already written and sung in a country folk style, but having that mixed together with her gender/race dynamic and the casual intimacy of the delivery creates a powerful listening experience. Combs just reverts it to a straightforward country song without any other layers and a less intimate delivery. To the extent that there are layers, it's more in relation to the original artist than to the music itself.
posted by p3t3 at 7:26 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
But strictly as a music fan, I definitely like Tracy's version. It's already written and sung in a country folk style, but having that mixed together with her gender/race dynamic and the casual intimacy of the delivery creates a powerful listening experience. Combs just reverts it to a straightforward country song without any other layers and a less intimate delivery. To the extent that there are layers, it's more in relation to the original artist than to the music itself.
posted by p3t3 at 7:26 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Todd in the Shadows' reaction has been posted way upthread, but for me, he nails it: when I hear Tracy Chapman sing "Fast Car," for those three minutes I absolutely believe the desperation and the heartbreak in the story and in her voice. And when Luke Combs sings "Fast Car," it's a good performance, and it's still a great song, but I don't believe it in the same way, and it doesn't put me vividly in the moments of the song in the way that the original does.
Net-positive, absolutely, because a good performance of a great song is never a bad thing, and because Chapman's getting paid for it. But the original is so good that the cover feels superfluous. Presumptuous. Not weak in itself but dwarfed by the greatness of the original.
(Incidentally: I did hear the song on commercial radio when I was growing up in the late 90s, but so rarely that it felt like a special treat. I still think that's the best way for a song to be on the radio: so rarely that every time you hear it, you're absolutely jazzed.)
posted by Jeanne at 7:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
Net-positive, absolutely, because a good performance of a great song is never a bad thing, and because Chapman's getting paid for it. But the original is so good that the cover feels superfluous. Presumptuous. Not weak in itself but dwarfed by the greatness of the original.
(Incidentally: I did hear the song on commercial radio when I was growing up in the late 90s, but so rarely that it felt like a special treat. I still think that's the best way for a song to be on the radio: so rarely that every time you hear it, you're absolutely jazzed.)
posted by Jeanne at 7:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
Related, if you ever get the chance, go see Invisible, a documentary about the queer women and trans singer/songwriters behind a lot of country music hits.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 7:55 PM on July 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Jeanne's use of "believe" remind me of the Johnny Cash movie:
I don't record material that doesn't sell, Mr. Cash ... and gospel like that doesn't sell.posted by PresidentOfDinosaurs at 9:47 PM on July 16, 2023
Was it the gospel or the way I sing it?
Both.
Well, what's wrong with the way I sing it?
I don't believe you.
You saying I don't believe in God?
[...]
I saw Tracy in the summer of 1988. "Fast Car" was in heavy, heavy rotation on the radio - you couldn't miss it. It finished the year in the Billboard Top 100. Her work, like some others at the time (Indigo Girls, 10,000 Maniacs, Cowboy Junkies) represented a turn from the overwhelmingly synth-driven pop of the early/mid 80s to acts like Suzanne Vega and Tori Amos and Sinead O'Connor, more confessional and personal singer-songwriters. She is already more famous and more influential than whoever this cover artist is will ever be. And I suspect that will remain true and am not worried about it.
I'd just say, if you like Fast Car, listen to her catalogue. And if you can't devote that much time, listen to the one song I think is her best of all, a great, simple, heartfelt contribution to American folk music writing and performance: All That You Have Is Your Soul.
posted by Miko at 9:48 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I'd just say, if you like Fast Car, listen to her catalogue. And if you can't devote that much time, listen to the one song I think is her best of all, a great, simple, heartfelt contribution to American folk music writing and performance: All That You Have Is Your Soul.
posted by Miko at 9:48 PM on July 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I watched that Todd in the Shadows video the other day and thought he raised some fair points. The series is new to me and while I generally enjoy it the ageism can get really gross. I gave up on the Kokomo one when he was talking about the 50-year-old Beach Boys having "old man stink." There are plenty of ways to shit on Kokomo that don't involve being a dick to middle-aged people in general.
Tracy Chapman appears to have used the fame and fortune of her almost miraculous first album to transform herself into a 'babe'
Wha..? You had me thinking she'd had a ghastly Real Housewives makeover or something, but I Googled her and she pretty much looks exactly like I'd expect 1988 Tracy Chapman to look now.
I haven't checked in with Chapman for a long time, but I've had a soft spot for her ever since I saw the old Fast Cars video. That song wasn't fucking around, it cut pretty deep. By contrast the country version just sounds like a bar band cover to me. Not hideous or anything, but it's not really gonna distract you from your nachos either.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:05 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Tracy Chapman appears to have used the fame and fortune of her almost miraculous first album to transform herself into a 'babe'
Wha..? You had me thinking she'd had a ghastly Real Housewives makeover or something, but I Googled her and she pretty much looks exactly like I'd expect 1988 Tracy Chapman to look now.
I haven't checked in with Chapman for a long time, but I've had a soft spot for her ever since I saw the old Fast Cars video. That song wasn't fucking around, it cut pretty deep. By contrast the country version just sounds like a bar band cover to me. Not hideous or anything, but it's not really gonna distract you from your nachos either.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:05 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
On the one hand, I'm happy she's getting recognition and money.
On the other hand, it certainly is our world that the only way she gets that is to have her work filtered through a white guy, because THEN people look, listen, notice.
I think it’s more that this is a 35 year old song being rediscovered by a new generation due to the cover.. This was a song that upon its release in 1988 was a Top 10 hit, and the album it appeared on reached number one and was certified six-times platinum. It’s not as if this was some obscure song that was only popularized because some white guy sang it years later (though I’m sure Chapman doesn’t mind getting paid multiple times over for it).
posted by The Gooch at 10:29 PM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
On the other hand, it certainly is our world that the only way she gets that is to have her work filtered through a white guy, because THEN people look, listen, notice.
I think it’s more that this is a 35 year old song being rediscovered by a new generation due to the cover.. This was a song that upon its release in 1988 was a Top 10 hit, and the album it appeared on reached number one and was certified six-times platinum. It’s not as if this was some obscure song that was only popularized because some white guy sang it years later (though I’m sure Chapman doesn’t mind getting paid multiple times over for it).
posted by The Gooch at 10:29 PM on July 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
Went down a quick TC rabbithole on YT from this. This '88 Wembley Stadium performance is pretty powerful just to see 60,000 people captivated by just Tracey and a guitar, no band, barely even any stage lighting.
I was also digging for early performances, can't find much, but here's a nice one from '86, the year before she signed to Elektra, and 2 years before her debut album there.
posted by p3t3 at 10:37 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was also digging for early performances, can't find much, but here's a nice one from '86, the year before she signed to Elektra, and 2 years before her debut album there.
posted by p3t3 at 10:37 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think it’s more that this is a 35 year old song being rediscovered by a new generation due to the cover.
This still feels like understating the original’s enduring popularity (despite the people here saying they never heard it) but the most important thing is that it’s being brought to a specific audience that, it’s probably fair to say, includes a lot of people who weren’t previously Tracy Chapman’s audience.
posted by atoxyl at 11:08 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
This still feels like understating the original’s enduring popularity (despite the people here saying they never heard it) but the most important thing is that it’s being brought to a specific audience that, it’s probably fair to say, includes a lot of people who weren’t previously Tracy Chapman’s audience.
posted by atoxyl at 11:08 PM on July 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
she should do one of his now.
posted by matjus at 11:15 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by matjus at 11:15 PM on July 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh, my brother videotaped the Amnesty International concert Hearthpig mentions from TV (MTV I think?) and I rewatched that so many times. It was sort of a compilation from performances in different locations though.
I was impressed how BAD Peter Gabriel was at singing Live (or maybe he had a cold then or was completely exhausted and I am being unfair). Oh but the Tracy Chapman and the Mori Kante performances, and in spite of Gabriel's voice box, the 'Biko' song performed with two drummers. I even tried to learn drumming along to that one for a bit.
oh oh oh and when Springsteen did "Twist and Shout"! Back then I was convinced the audience decided it was probably "La Bamba" and he just went with it, but I understand now that they did it as a medley all along.
Aaaaanyway, for most of my life I knew of no other songs that gives me the hopeless melancholy Fast Car does. I was so surprised to find Halsey's 'Eastside' does the same thing to me, even if it's approaching the hopeless sad from such a different direction.
Fast Car in the voice of Luke Combs on the other hand doesn't. Even though it is a fine cover version in every other respect.
posted by Ashenmote at 11:19 PM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was impressed how BAD Peter Gabriel was at singing Live (or maybe he had a cold then or was completely exhausted and I am being unfair). Oh but the Tracy Chapman and the Mori Kante performances, and in spite of Gabriel's voice box, the 'Biko' song performed with two drummers. I even tried to learn drumming along to that one for a bit.
oh oh oh and when Springsteen did "Twist and Shout"! Back then I was convinced the audience decided it was probably "La Bamba" and he just went with it, but I understand now that they did it as a medley all along.
Aaaaanyway, for most of my life I knew of no other songs that gives me the hopeless melancholy Fast Car does. I was so surprised to find Halsey's 'Eastside' does the same thing to me, even if it's approaching the hopeless sad from such a different direction.
Fast Car in the voice of Luke Combs on the other hand doesn't. Even though it is a fine cover version in every other respect.
posted by Ashenmote at 11:19 PM on July 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, songs published in 1988 that didn't make a huge impact can't be found in the punchline of Super Hero parody webcomics twenty five years later, I'm sure.
Wonderella - Alcoholics AUTONOMOUS
posted by Ashenmote at 11:53 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wonderella - Alcoholics AUTONOMOUS
posted by Ashenmote at 11:53 PM on July 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think my reaction to it isn't that complicated: it sure seems like Luke Combs has the best of intentions here: he released this because he thinks it's a great song that deserves to be remembered as part of the American Songbook, over the apparent objections of the money men, and Tracy Chapman's getting paid as a result of its success. While it sucks that the country music machine won't play or promote black artists, this is not Luke Combs' fault, and I already basically knew this about country music. And while his cover is faithful to a fault, it also means that he didn't try to make it from the perspective of a man or monkey with it too much, which I think is important. This is how Fast Car is supposed to sound: from the perspective of a woman that sounds like Tracy Chapman.
posted by Merus at 12:47 AM on July 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Merus at 12:47 AM on July 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
I was impressed how BAD Peter Gabriel was at singing Live (or maybe he had a cold then or was completely exhausted and I am being unfair).
I have seen Peter Gabriel live in person twice. The Amnesty International gig was kind of a bum gig for him, he is indeed way better. (You'll notice a couple times early on for "In Your Eyes," he looks off stage and points at his mike a couple times; I think there were some technical issues.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:21 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have seen Peter Gabriel live in person twice. The Amnesty International gig was kind of a bum gig for him, he is indeed way better. (You'll notice a couple times early on for "In Your Eyes," he looks off stage and points at his mike a couple times; I think there were some technical issues.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:21 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oh, and a theory about how there are so many people in here who haven't ever heard Tracy Chapman's version before: this was a song from the late 80s that doesn't fit any of the usual "Late 80s" tropes. So it was all over the place in 1988; but the "classic music" 80s stations go for the usual Madonna/Michael Jackson/Bon Jovi/etc. playlists and "Fast Car" rarely makes it onto the roster, because it isn't the go-to thing people think of when they think "80s".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:23 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:23 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
That is reassuring to hear, QueenCallipygos. And I completely forgot about In Your Eyes! The Amnesty concert was the first time I heard it (before that he was just that guy who did the Sledgehammer music video to me) In spite of the issues around his voice, it's the version I imprinted on and I accept no other.
posted by Ashenmote at 3:51 AM on July 17, 2023
posted by Ashenmote at 3:51 AM on July 17, 2023
My dad worked at Tufts University in the early 1980s, when Tracy was there. He was the Sports Information Director, and I believe he knew her casually because she was on the soccer team. One day, when I was five or six, my family went in to Harvard Square. My mom had to run an errand with my baby brother, and my dad and I wandered around the square. At one point we ran into someone my dad described as “my friend Tracy,” and seeing that I was a tiny child, she sang “Puff the Magic Dragon” to me. My dad picked me up, and while I was initially bashful, at one point she looked me straight in the eye and we had this lovely moment of person-to-person contact. My dad left a dollar in her guitar case, and I told him I liked his friend because she had “a nice face.”
A couple of years later, I was in middle school, Dad had gotten fired from Tufts, and Dad’s friend Tracy had released her first album. We heard Fast Car on the radio when he had us for a weekend, and Dad said “I hope she gets her money and leaves the business.”
Having met Tracy very briefly, I’m happy for her to have this success because it allows her to be a person in the world. The cover is banal, but if she’s able to pay her rent and buy groceries from something she wrote in college, good for her.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:28 AM on July 17, 2023 [27 favorites]
A couple of years later, I was in middle school, Dad had gotten fired from Tufts, and Dad’s friend Tracy had released her first album. We heard Fast Car on the radio when he had us for a weekend, and Dad said “I hope she gets her money and leaves the business.”
Having met Tracy very briefly, I’m happy for her to have this success because it allows her to be a person in the world. The cover is banal, but if she’s able to pay her rent and buy groceries from something she wrote in college, good for her.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:28 AM on July 17, 2023 [27 favorites]
I don't specifically remember Gabriel singing badly at the AI concert in toronto, but my crew had just seen him maybe a year before on the SO tour and his singing was jes'fine. Will hopefully be so again in Toronto in September this year. ;)
(a secondary thing that bummed me a bit about that concert was that it felt like everyone around us in our section was only there to see Springsteen, for whom at the time I gave not the slightest crap.)
posted by hearthpig at 5:07 AM on July 17, 2023
(a secondary thing that bummed me a bit about that concert was that it felt like everyone around us in our section was only there to see Springsteen, for whom at the time I gave not the slightest crap.)
posted by hearthpig at 5:07 AM on July 17, 2023
To add some anecdata about cis white men of a certain age and the popularity of the song and the impact Tracy Chapman had on those of us coming of age in the late 80's: Roger Bennet of Men in Blazers has long leaned on Fast Car as a recurring touchstone/reference/emo metaphor for how he feels when the team he loves (Everton) lose.
From TFA: One reason “Fast Car” hit a nerve is that it’s special to everyone for different reasons.
I am a white male who grew up in the US in the 80s, and I get the reference because of the way Fast Car made me feel. I was a young person feeling the trepidation of leaving the nest and making big life decisions. I am and was keenly aware how little shared experience I have with the literal story of the song, but the story and storyteller make me feel the both the optimism and bleakness. The crossroads of "leave tonight or live and die this way" resonated with my teenage self. I still have that emo kid inside, and Tracy Chapman's version still chokes me up. To me Luke Combs is a bard telling someone else's tale and doing a fine job of it. And his audience gets to hear the story and some will be moved to check out the original. In the end, Combs has transparently presented this as a cover and credited Tracy Chapman, and that seems to be a damn sight better than artists have done in the past.
posted by ElGuapo at 5:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
From TFA: One reason “Fast Car” hit a nerve is that it’s special to everyone for different reasons.
I am a white male who grew up in the US in the 80s, and I get the reference because of the way Fast Car made me feel. I was a young person feeling the trepidation of leaving the nest and making big life decisions. I am and was keenly aware how little shared experience I have with the literal story of the song, but the story and storyteller make me feel the both the optimism and bleakness. The crossroads of "leave tonight or live and die this way" resonated with my teenage self. I still have that emo kid inside, and Tracy Chapman's version still chokes me up. To me Luke Combs is a bard telling someone else's tale and doing a fine job of it. And his audience gets to hear the story and some will be moved to check out the original. In the end, Combs has transparently presented this as a cover and credited Tracy Chapman, and that seems to be a damn sight better than artists have done in the past.
posted by ElGuapo at 5:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
I've forgotten 90% of what transpired at Lilith Fair 1997 beyond the general vibe, but one thing I will never forget is Tracy Chapman's set. She showed up next to last, blew everyone the fuck away, and then left Sarah McLachlan to attempt to follow her up. If you were a person who was at Lilith Fair 1997 you were almost certainly into Sarah, she'd put this whole amazing thing together, and after anyone else on that bill she would have been an amazing final set, but it was hilarious how much she felt like an afterthought at that moment.
She was really, really special in concert. I'm glad for people younger than I am who don't know about her, to be able to learn about her now and at least see some video. I'm very glad if she'll make some nice cash from this. I'm pretty bored by this cover, but if it serves some purpose in getting more people aware of her work, that's nice, I suppose, and a useful data point in the ongoing bigger "what does it take to get a Black artist celebrated in the country music world" conversation that seems to have been ongoing for a long time.
posted by Stacey at 6:29 AM on July 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
She was really, really special in concert. I'm glad for people younger than I am who don't know about her, to be able to learn about her now and at least see some video. I'm very glad if she'll make some nice cash from this. I'm pretty bored by this cover, but if it serves some purpose in getting more people aware of her work, that's nice, I suppose, and a useful data point in the ongoing bigger "what does it take to get a Black artist celebrated in the country music world" conversation that seems to have been ongoing for a long time.
posted by Stacey at 6:29 AM on July 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
Roger Bennet of Men in Blazers has long leaned on Fast Car as a recurring touchstone/reference/emo metaphor for how he feels when the team he loves (Everton) lose.
Now that… seems more of a “colonization” action than any Luke Combs cover. I mean, “Fast Car” is not an allegorical song. You can discuss whether the narrator *is* Chapman or a character being portrayed in song *by* Chapman, but the emotions and nostalgia in the lyrics are specific and tangible. The narrator is not alluding to something vague and unnamed, she’s linking her emotions to her memories. Turning it into a post-footie-match mope is tacky, very tacky.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:43 AM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Now that… seems more of a “colonization” action than any Luke Combs cover. I mean, “Fast Car” is not an allegorical song. You can discuss whether the narrator *is* Chapman or a character being portrayed in song *by* Chapman, but the emotions and nostalgia in the lyrics are specific and tangible. The narrator is not alluding to something vague and unnamed, she’s linking her emotions to her memories. Turning it into a post-footie-match mope is tacky, very tacky.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:43 AM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
it's a deeply depressing song. A song about growing up in generational poverty and hoping and planning on getting the fuck out of there. The problem is, shit jobs (if you're lucking to get one) pay shit wages so you cannot afford to move anywhere and besides, you've got parent(s) to care for because they are sick.
As noted in previous discussions of this song on Metafilter, the gender swapped version annoys me, because it changes the meaning of the song in important ways that I think really water it down.
The original was absolutely perfect and I love Tracy Chapman. I really hate the remake. It doesn't have the same emotional impact of the original and it seems like he's just singing the words without actually having lived it.
I'm not going to lie--this song for me is a woman's song and a woman's song only. There really aren't many songs I feel that way about. But I'm glad for anything putting dollars in Chapman's pocket, and I encourage everybody to go back and listen to that first album. The politics sometimes make the lyrics a little clunky, but it's quite something.
when I hear Tracy Chapman sing "Fast Car," for those three minutes I absolutely believe the desperation and the heartbreak in the story and in her voice. And when Luke Combs sings "Fast Car," it's a good performance, and it's still a great song, but I don't believe it in the same way, and it doesn't put me vividly in the moments of the song in the way that the original does.
All of this. We heard it the other day and stopped to really listen. And in ways the commenters above said so well, but we were unable to articulate in the moment, we agreed that for us, a a cover, it just did not "work". It offered nothing new, it contained none of the desperation and heartbreak, that sense of the singer wanting SO BADLY to believe her own hype, but we as omniscient listeners knowing it was all doomed. And some of that came from projecting the belief that the person in the story was a young Black woman trapped in a cycle of socioeconomic oppression that would never let her out.
And when a it's sung by a white man, even if the lyrics are the same, it just fails in delivering what we believe to be that heartbreak essence, the expression of a generation's struggle from a girl in that specific time and place where something as simple as a friend with a fast car can look like salvation. "All I need is to get to the next place (because anyplace is better) and then everything will be great" but we know it's not. Or is it? But probably not. It never was. And each time, her delivery of the "Remember when we were driving, driving in your car" section just swells with that hope and overwhelming cascade of PLEASE OH PLEASE THIS MIGHT JUST HAPPEN! but then the plaintive guitar twangs back in and her voice recedes and we know it's just doomed. It's lightning in a bottle for so many reasons and godspeed to Luke Combs but he doesn't have it, and he probably knows it.
Or does he? I don't think he does because in his version, the drums pick up and it starts to approach anthemic levels of stadiumness, and that is just not what the song is about. It's not about the hope, it's about the heartbreak. He's digging in the wrong place. So yes... the best outcome here is for everyone to find Tracy's version and ideally, see it for themselves.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 6:46 AM on July 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
As noted in previous discussions of this song on Metafilter, the gender swapped version annoys me, because it changes the meaning of the song in important ways that I think really water it down.
The original was absolutely perfect and I love Tracy Chapman. I really hate the remake. It doesn't have the same emotional impact of the original and it seems like he's just singing the words without actually having lived it.
I'm not going to lie--this song for me is a woman's song and a woman's song only. There really aren't many songs I feel that way about. But I'm glad for anything putting dollars in Chapman's pocket, and I encourage everybody to go back and listen to that first album. The politics sometimes make the lyrics a little clunky, but it's quite something.
when I hear Tracy Chapman sing "Fast Car," for those three minutes I absolutely believe the desperation and the heartbreak in the story and in her voice. And when Luke Combs sings "Fast Car," it's a good performance, and it's still a great song, but I don't believe it in the same way, and it doesn't put me vividly in the moments of the song in the way that the original does.
All of this. We heard it the other day and stopped to really listen. And in ways the commenters above said so well, but we were unable to articulate in the moment, we agreed that for us, a a cover, it just did not "work". It offered nothing new, it contained none of the desperation and heartbreak, that sense of the singer wanting SO BADLY to believe her own hype, but we as omniscient listeners knowing it was all doomed. And some of that came from projecting the belief that the person in the story was a young Black woman trapped in a cycle of socioeconomic oppression that would never let her out.
And when a it's sung by a white man, even if the lyrics are the same, it just fails in delivering what we believe to be that heartbreak essence, the expression of a generation's struggle from a girl in that specific time and place where something as simple as a friend with a fast car can look like salvation. "All I need is to get to the next place (because anyplace is better) and then everything will be great" but we know it's not. Or is it? But probably not. It never was. And each time, her delivery of the "Remember when we were driving, driving in your car" section just swells with that hope and overwhelming cascade of PLEASE OH PLEASE THIS MIGHT JUST HAPPEN! but then the plaintive guitar twangs back in and her voice recedes and we know it's just doomed. It's lightning in a bottle for so many reasons and godspeed to Luke Combs but he doesn't have it, and he probably knows it.
Or does he? I don't think he does because in his version, the drums pick up and it starts to approach anthemic levels of stadiumness, and that is just not what the song is about. It's not about the hope, it's about the heartbreak. He's digging in the wrong place. So yes... the best outcome here is for everyone to find Tracy's version and ideally, see it for themselves.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 6:46 AM on July 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
I can't believe we've gotten this deep into the thread, talking extensively about whether its appropriate for this song to be sung by a cis het white man, a man who a lot of people feel lacks the talent or gravitas to take on Chapman... and there's not a single mention of the version (linked right there in the article, mind you) by Justin Bieber.
Surely compared to that, Luke Combs pretty much is a queer black woman who has deeply felt that ineffable combination of hope and heartbreak... um, if that makes any sense.
posted by Naberius at 7:06 AM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Surely compared to that, Luke Combs pretty much is a queer black woman who has deeply felt that ineffable combination of hope and heartbreak... um, if that makes any sense.
posted by Naberius at 7:06 AM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
And since my last comment does not really reply about TFA but just offers personal thoughts about the song and cover not working for me as a listener... for me, these excerpts are key to the that whole point.
The immediate success of Combs’s “Fast Car,” Davenport said, “kind of just proves that when you put a White face on Black art, it seems to be consumed a lot easier.” That’s why some goals of the Black Opry are to make sure artists of color can have equal opportunities and get the same amount of attention, he said, and to push for change among gatekeepers in Nashville. “This genre needs to expand their boardrooms and let marginalized people be in these rooms and make a bigger bet on these artists.”
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.)
Is it OK for someone whose persona and background could not be more different than the one that so many of us believe in, to presume to insert himself and appropriate the experience and the message, even if in doing so it helps expose the flaws and failures of the industry?
I rejoice that Tracy is getting her Kate Bush moment and that more people will learn about her. I certainly don't want to gatekeep the OG song or dictate how her version "should" be experienced in any way. I hope the same stations that play Combs' version will play hers too. Yes, she's making money from that credit, but damn, I want more for her. If that is gatekeeping I guess I need to self-adjust and apologize. That the song sparks so much reaction is just more evidence of its glory. I guess- what feels like a collective understanding (acceptance?) of "what the original song is really about" for OG listeners across many perspectives (in which I include myself) can make Combs' attempt sting in a way that feels particularly callous, regardless of his intentions or inspiration.
Bieber? OK. I need to step away.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:14 AM on July 17, 2023
The immediate success of Combs’s “Fast Car,” Davenport said, “kind of just proves that when you put a White face on Black art, it seems to be consumed a lot easier.” That’s why some goals of the Black Opry are to make sure artists of color can have equal opportunities and get the same amount of attention, he said, and to push for change among gatekeepers in Nashville. “This genre needs to expand their boardrooms and let marginalized people be in these rooms and make a bigger bet on these artists.”
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.)
Is it OK for someone whose persona and background could not be more different than the one that so many of us believe in, to presume to insert himself and appropriate the experience and the message, even if in doing so it helps expose the flaws and failures of the industry?
I rejoice that Tracy is getting her Kate Bush moment and that more people will learn about her. I certainly don't want to gatekeep the OG song or dictate how her version "should" be experienced in any way. I hope the same stations that play Combs' version will play hers too. Yes, she's making money from that credit, but damn, I want more for her. If that is gatekeeping I guess I need to self-adjust and apologize. That the song sparks so much reaction is just more evidence of its glory. I guess- what feels like a collective understanding (acceptance?) of "what the original song is really about" for OG listeners across many perspectives (in which I include myself) can make Combs' attempt sting in a way that feels particularly callous, regardless of his intentions or inspiration.
Bieber? OK. I need to step away.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:14 AM on July 17, 2023
But... one more thing from the comments on TFA:
I just popped over to Wikipedia to see what Tracy Chapman is doing these days and I found this nugget, "Chapman began playing guitar an writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw." How's that for full circle?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:18 AM on July 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
I just popped over to Wikipedia to see what Tracy Chapman is doing these days and I found this nugget, "Chapman began playing guitar an writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw." How's that for full circle?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:18 AM on July 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
Okay, here's my Fast Car story and it directly relates to why, for me, Combs' version doesn't have the same weight.
I grew up in a very small town in East Tennessee in the late 80s/early 90s. While I was fortunate enough to grow up in a moderately middle class household with educated parents, I'd say just over half of my friends were living in generational poverty with lots of broken homes, single moms, and at least one abusive parent. My graduating class had 200 kids and we were, at the time, the first class to graduate with only 2 pregnancies. One happened early in the year and one girl was pregnant at graduation. The previous year there were 16. It was expected for most of my female peers to be married and/or have a kid by their 19th birthday, if not before. There weren't a lot of options to do otherwise. It was college and escape or stay and work shit jobs and get married and have kids.
Both of my parents taught at the vocational high school in our county and they had a much higher teen pregnancy rate. To the point that the school even had a daycare so the girls could learn the skill of childcare, get certified, and have a place to park their babies while they were in school. All of this is just paint a picture of where we were.
I was a freshman in high school when this song came out. I can vividly remember sitting in the back seat of my best friend's dad's car in total silence as we listened to the song. When it was over, we begged him to drive us into the city so we could go to the record store and get a copy. He didn't because it was the end of the month and gas money was tight.
We ended up taping it off the radio later that week and I'm not kidding when I say that my group of girl friends wore that tape out. It got listened to so much, the tape actually broke.
Two years later, that same best friend was in tears in my room because she was afraid she was pregnant. She'd gotten wrapped up in a romance with a boy 5 years older than us and he'd promised her the world. But with the pregnancy scare, she'd realized his promises were worth only the breath he'd used to say them. We talked about options and what to do if that second line showed up on the test and as we were counting the money we'd hoarded over the years for a cute new dress or shoes, she looked at me and said, "I don't care what it takes, I am not gonna get "Fast Car'd". I instantly knew what she meant. So many of our peers fell for the siren song of escape promised by cute boys with nice cars. We all knew the odds and how frequently it worked out but the promise of a fast car was always there. But we also knew that the song was more right than the dream.
I don't think Combs' carries the same weight. Maybe it's cause I'm not 13 and maybe it's cause I got out. Maybe it's cause he's got the same voice as those boys that promise fleeting freedom in the fast car, but his version falls flat to me.
posted by teleri025 at 7:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [29 favorites]
I grew up in a very small town in East Tennessee in the late 80s/early 90s. While I was fortunate enough to grow up in a moderately middle class household with educated parents, I'd say just over half of my friends were living in generational poverty with lots of broken homes, single moms, and at least one abusive parent. My graduating class had 200 kids and we were, at the time, the first class to graduate with only 2 pregnancies. One happened early in the year and one girl was pregnant at graduation. The previous year there were 16. It was expected for most of my female peers to be married and/or have a kid by their 19th birthday, if not before. There weren't a lot of options to do otherwise. It was college and escape or stay and work shit jobs and get married and have kids.
Both of my parents taught at the vocational high school in our county and they had a much higher teen pregnancy rate. To the point that the school even had a daycare so the girls could learn the skill of childcare, get certified, and have a place to park their babies while they were in school. All of this is just paint a picture of where we were.
I was a freshman in high school when this song came out. I can vividly remember sitting in the back seat of my best friend's dad's car in total silence as we listened to the song. When it was over, we begged him to drive us into the city so we could go to the record store and get a copy. He didn't because it was the end of the month and gas money was tight.
We ended up taping it off the radio later that week and I'm not kidding when I say that my group of girl friends wore that tape out. It got listened to so much, the tape actually broke.
Two years later, that same best friend was in tears in my room because she was afraid she was pregnant. She'd gotten wrapped up in a romance with a boy 5 years older than us and he'd promised her the world. But with the pregnancy scare, she'd realized his promises were worth only the breath he'd used to say them. We talked about options and what to do if that second line showed up on the test and as we were counting the money we'd hoarded over the years for a cute new dress or shoes, she looked at me and said, "I don't care what it takes, I am not gonna get "Fast Car'd". I instantly knew what she meant. So many of our peers fell for the siren song of escape promised by cute boys with nice cars. We all knew the odds and how frequently it worked out but the promise of a fast car was always there. But we also knew that the song was more right than the dream.
I don't think Combs' carries the same weight. Maybe it's cause I'm not 13 and maybe it's cause I got out. Maybe it's cause he's got the same voice as those boys that promise fleeting freedom in the fast car, but his version falls flat to me.
posted by teleri025 at 7:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [29 favorites]
This is an interesting conversation because Music Genre is such a dumb manifestation of Identity politics and the base urge to apply and gatekeep labels. This is frustrating when trying to explain the difference between Heavy Metal and Death Metal. And it's regressive and harmful when these labels so often default o gender and race.
Why was FKA Twigs moved from Indie to R&B after her image (and skin color) become more well known? Why was Pearl Jam's cover Last Kiss on alternative rock stations? Why did Hello Nasty win a Grammy for best Alternative album when it's top single won for best rap song? Why was Eminem played on alternative rock stations? Why was Cypress Hill? (actually why was Cypress Hill played on Z104.5 the Edge? I don't have an idea for that one.)
But it's also interesting because (also frustratingly) I don't think I've encountered a good explanation how individuals try to transcend racial, ethnic or gender gatekeeping. It seems really easy to find an eagerness to engage with music that doesn't match your identity as 'colonization' or 'appropriation' but at the same time not engaging with music from people of other identities seems close to chauvinism or ghettoization.
I'm starting to believe that Appropriation or Colonization aren't concepts that make a lot of sense when applied to the actions of individuals. Sure, the music industry manifests as systemic racism, and these systems often suppress music from POC and elevate the European artists who were influenced by the suppressed music. But saying an individual doesn't have the voice or authenticity to sing or speak a particular way seems to assume of a lot of unknowable things about a person. This belief has been snowballing since reading this blog post and may not apply here... but I don't think people brining up conversations of whether a cover is OK or not is a 'straw man', even if everyone reading this comment thinks honest covers are obviously OK.
posted by midmarch snowman at 8:52 AM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Why was FKA Twigs moved from Indie to R&B after her image (and skin color) become more well known? Why was Pearl Jam's cover Last Kiss on alternative rock stations? Why did Hello Nasty win a Grammy for best Alternative album when it's top single won for best rap song? Why was Eminem played on alternative rock stations? Why was Cypress Hill? (actually why was Cypress Hill played on Z104.5 the Edge? I don't have an idea for that one.)
But it's also interesting because (also frustratingly) I don't think I've encountered a good explanation how individuals try to transcend racial, ethnic or gender gatekeeping. It seems really easy to find an eagerness to engage with music that doesn't match your identity as 'colonization' or 'appropriation' but at the same time not engaging with music from people of other identities seems close to chauvinism or ghettoization.
I'm starting to believe that Appropriation or Colonization aren't concepts that make a lot of sense when applied to the actions of individuals. Sure, the music industry manifests as systemic racism, and these systems often suppress music from POC and elevate the European artists who were influenced by the suppressed music. But saying an individual doesn't have the voice or authenticity to sing or speak a particular way seems to assume of a lot of unknowable things about a person. This belief has been snowballing since reading this blog post and may not apply here... but I don't think people brining up conversations of whether a cover is OK or not is a 'straw man', even if everyone reading this comment thinks honest covers are obviously OK.
posted by midmarch snowman at 8:52 AM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Something Todd in The Shadows mentioned in his review was kinda fascinating....
Tracy Chapman's original inspired assumptions about the gender of the person with the car - to like a "was the dress blue and black or was it white and gold" degree. When I heard it, I was quite certain she was singing about a guy who had the fast car....but Todd is just as certain that it was a woman who had the fast car. And he discusses a bit how the song lands depending on who you think had the fast car.
I'm sure my assumption was based on seeing a handful of other girls in the same situation (like teleri025 mentions above), and it being the 1980s and my being in a small town and only having met one gay person in my life up to that point (that I knew of), to be fair.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:19 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Tracy Chapman's original inspired assumptions about the gender of the person with the car - to like a "was the dress blue and black or was it white and gold" degree. When I heard it, I was quite certain she was singing about a guy who had the fast car....but Todd is just as certain that it was a woman who had the fast car. And he discusses a bit how the song lands depending on who you think had the fast car.
I'm sure my assumption was based on seeing a handful of other girls in the same situation (like teleri025 mentions above), and it being the 1980s and my being in a small town and only having met one gay person in my life up to that point (that I knew of), to be fair.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:19 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
But saying an individual doesn't have the voice or authenticity to sing or speak a particular way seems to assume of a lot of unknowable things about a person.
One thing that helps in these conversations is to recognize that no one has to come down on whether it's "right" or "wrong." It can be just complicated, and interesting, to discuss a cover like this in light of identity, disenfranchisement, music history, inspiration, personal interpretation, etc. All those perspectives can, and are, at once true. Sometimes I think we tend to fall into believing we have to endorse or condemn every phenomenon put before us. We can just discuss it and allow it to influence our thinking and behavior about all those complex topics as we continue to go through life.
posted by Miko at 9:39 AM on July 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
One thing that helps in these conversations is to recognize that no one has to come down on whether it's "right" or "wrong." It can be just complicated, and interesting, to discuss a cover like this in light of identity, disenfranchisement, music history, inspiration, personal interpretation, etc. All those perspectives can, and are, at once true. Sometimes I think we tend to fall into believing we have to endorse or condemn every phenomenon put before us. We can just discuss it and allow it to influence our thinking and behavior about all those complex topics as we continue to go through life.
posted by Miko at 9:39 AM on July 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
Sometimes I think we tend to fall into believing we have to endorse or condemn every phenomenon put before us.
Yup. It’s right here in this thread where roughly 50% of the comments feel the need to “endorse” one version over the other as if they were rival political candidates, even though “Fast Car: Which Version is Best?” is not the topic of the posted article.
posted by The Gooch at 9:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yup. It’s right here in this thread where roughly 50% of the comments feel the need to “endorse” one version over the other as if they were rival political candidates, even though “Fast Car: Which Version is Best?” is not the topic of the posted article.
posted by The Gooch at 9:54 AM on July 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
to me, the unexpected balance of
chapman is now a #1 charted country music artist getting fair royalties
is a grand beginning to shifting a major racist/sexist/homophobic institution. could be quite a remarkable moment unfolding before us.
(also, i have an opinion about which version is 'better' and it's none of your business, because stay on thread topic, please.)
posted by j_curiouser at 10:38 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
black queer women artists can't expect to get this kind of airplay on modern country radio no matter how strong the song is.and
chapman is now a #1 charted country music artist getting fair royalties
is a grand beginning to shifting a major racist/sexist/homophobic institution. could be quite a remarkable moment unfolding before us.
(also, i have an opinion about which version is 'better' and it's none of your business, because stay on thread topic, please.)
posted by j_curiouser at 10:38 AM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
is a grand beginning to shifting a major racist/sexist/homophobic institution
I don't know that you can call it a "beginning" because its history is so very long and includes so many artists. It wasn't that long ago people were debating whether Old Town Road was a country song. Queer/Black country aren't new things, so if the institution that is the music industry finally shifts around it this will be just one more increment. .
posted by Miko at 10:55 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
I don't know that you can call it a "beginning" because its history is so very long and includes so many artists. It wasn't that long ago people were debating whether Old Town Road was a country song. Queer/Black country aren't new things, so if the institution that is the music industry finally shifts around it this will be just one more increment. .
posted by Miko at 10:55 AM on July 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
The original version is such a thing. It has a punch and weight that it's astounding.
The Combs version doesn't carry the same punch, but he's singing a song he unabashedly loves and seems to be using his position and voice in the best way that he can in his position. (Jason Isbell did it louder and more forcefully, but that's Jason Isbell for you.) The more artists who do what they've done, the better.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:02 AM on July 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
The Combs version doesn't carry the same punch, but he's singing a song he unabashedly loves and seems to be using his position and voice in the best way that he can in his position. (Jason Isbell did it louder and more forcefully, but that's Jason Isbell for you.) The more artists who do what they've done, the better.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:02 AM on July 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
miko, that's a reasonable rebuttal, ty. I'll reconsider my position. cheers!
posted by j_curiouser at 11:44 AM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by j_curiouser at 11:44 AM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
It is clearly the singer’s partner who has the fast car, since the lyrics reference a you/I dichotomy in many of the lines (eg. “you got a fast car/I got a plan to get us out of here”). I don’t know Chapman’s sexual orientation, but if Todd in the Shadows thought that the singer was the person with the fast car, or that the singer was male in the original and then assumed a heterosexual relationship to make the “you” female, then he is wrong.
posted by eviemath at 1:10 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 1:10 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Todd did not think Chapman was male, nor that the narrator was male. He did think both the narrator and the “you” character were women.
I can imagine Chapman using the second-person to keep it deliberately ambiguous, given the climate in the late ‘80s. I grew up assuming that the narrator was in a relationship with a man who was a directionless parasite, but that was almost certainly informed by my own unexamined class and gender biases.
posted by armeowda at 1:29 PM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
I can imagine Chapman using the second-person to keep it deliberately ambiguous, given the climate in the late ‘80s. I grew up assuming that the narrator was in a relationship with a man who was a directionless parasite, but that was almost certainly informed by my own unexamined class and gender biases.
posted by armeowda at 1:29 PM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Chapman herself has always kept her private life well separate from her public life. But Alice Walker has said she was in a relationship with Chapman in the Nineties.
posted by hippybear at 1:37 PM on July 17, 2023
posted by hippybear at 1:37 PM on July 17, 2023
[This is why even though Tracy Chapman had been suggested to me by more than a couple of people for the Pride Month "Queer Women In Music" posts, I did not include her as one of the artists I profiled.]
posted by hippybear at 1:37 PM on July 17, 2023
posted by hippybear at 1:37 PM on July 17, 2023
I heard this cover recently, and just the context in which it was played made me realize how much the original song has in common with Country themes, especially those of the 1970's, and I started to look at Chapman's work to try and find other similarities to the genre.
I had never considered the song from that perspective before. I believe it was originally very much a song that could succeed in the Country charts.
posted by in_lieu_of_fiction at 6:06 PM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
I had never considered the song from that perspective before. I believe it was originally very much a song that could succeed in the Country charts.
posted by in_lieu_of_fiction at 6:06 PM on July 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Country Music’s Culture Wars and the Remaking of Nashville
Tennessee’s government has turned hard red, but a new set of outlaw songwriters is challenging Music City’s conservative ways—and ruling bro-country sound.
By Emily NussbaumJuly 17, 2023
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:35 PM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Tennessee’s government has turned hard red, but a new set of outlaw songwriters is challenging Music City’s conservative ways—and ruling bro-country sound.
By Emily NussbaumJuly 17, 2023
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:35 PM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Never a bad time to revisit Tressie McMillan Cottom on country music: The Black vanguard in white utopias. Many of the same progressive country artists cited in this piece from 2021 as in Nussbaum's piece linked above.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:30 PM on July 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 7:30 PM on July 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
I've forgotten 90% of what transpired at Lilith Fair 1997 beyond the general vibe, but one thing I will never forget is Tracy Chapman's set.
The two things I remember are 1) Paula Cole put on an admirable live show 2) Tracy Chapman.
As I recall it she opened into the Gorge late-day sun with "Fast Car", solo acoustic guitar, and a hush fell on every one in the crowd, the environment shifted as if by a total eclipse, birds lifted out of their time.
posted by away for regrooving at 1:21 AM on July 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
The two things I remember are 1) Paula Cole put on an admirable live show 2) Tracy Chapman.
As I recall it she opened into the Gorge late-day sun with "Fast Car", solo acoustic guitar, and a hush fell on every one in the crowd, the environment shifted as if by a total eclipse, birds lifted out of their time.
posted by away for regrooving at 1:21 AM on July 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
“Tracy Chapman Maybe Gets Somewhere,” Noah Berlatsky, Everything is Horrible, 18 July 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 AM on July 18, 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 AM on July 18, 2023
They still play the Tracy Chapman version on JACK FM radio stations regularly, which is fine because it's a great song.
I don't know but IMO the phenomena 'country music radio stars' are so narrowly defined that I'm not surprised that it's not more diverse. Charlie Crockett exists.
Not just black, but what about Hispanics in country music? They make up almost half the population in 'southern' areas of the US, but are almost completely unrepresented in 'country music radio'. The Mavericks exist.
If the sound of 'country music radio' was more diverse, the Tracy Chapman song would have charted originally. It's a guitar, a voice, and a sad story. Charlie Crockett has put out like 8 albums in the past 6-8 years. He's got some songs.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:37 PM on July 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I don't know but IMO the phenomena 'country music radio stars' are so narrowly defined that I'm not surprised that it's not more diverse. Charlie Crockett exists.
Not just black, but what about Hispanics in country music? They make up almost half the population in 'southern' areas of the US, but are almost completely unrepresented in 'country music radio'. The Mavericks exist.
If the sound of 'country music radio' was more diverse, the Tracy Chapman song would have charted originally. It's a guitar, a voice, and a sad story. Charlie Crockett has put out like 8 albums in the past 6-8 years. He's got some songs.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:37 PM on July 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was, like anyone else, absolutely shook when I first heard the song. For me, a black male and middle class teenager, it did the musical equivalent of grabbing me, sitting me down and forcing me to listen to the deplorably universal truth of what it was saying. In its bleak rural roots, it spoke so softly and simply, yet powerfully, about love, loss, dreams, the stark reality of the world, and so much more.
I've sung the song many times, but always feel a bit weird about it, because it is, unquestionably a woman's song ("somebody's got to take care of him..."). Yet is so damn universal, to the point where even a white male could feel and connect with the desire for a better life, the frustration of that effort, and the unstated, but crystal clear unfairness of it all, no matter if the situations varied.
So yeah, shoutout to Tracy Chapman for creating the song, the fantastic albums she's made over the decades. Shoutout to Luke Combs for making newer generations aware of Chapman and for being a good guy about all of this. Sure, there are complicated nuisances we can and should get into about the gate keeping of country music, but I'll take solace, at least for today, in the general good that came out of this cover.
*Puts on the Crossroads album*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:48 PM on July 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
I've sung the song many times, but always feel a bit weird about it, because it is, unquestionably a woman's song ("somebody's got to take care of him..."). Yet is so damn universal, to the point where even a white male could feel and connect with the desire for a better life, the frustration of that effort, and the unstated, but crystal clear unfairness of it all, no matter if the situations varied.
So yeah, shoutout to Tracy Chapman for creating the song, the fantastic albums she's made over the decades. Shoutout to Luke Combs for making newer generations aware of Chapman and for being a good guy about all of this. Sure, there are complicated nuisances we can and should get into about the gate keeping of country music, but I'll take solace, at least for today, in the general good that came out of this cover.
*Puts on the Crossroads album*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:48 PM on July 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
In addition to not playing artists who aren't white, country radio still will not play two women artists back to back
posted by hydropsyche at 4:41 PM on July 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 4:41 PM on July 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
I mean all commercial radio sucks. Country radio is just a subset of that.
posted by Miko at 7:39 PM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 7:39 PM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
But… why had I not heard the original before now?
I dunno, it's a really famous song. Do you need us to hold an emergency sonic bootcamp? That would be fun!
How Tracy Chapman became known is a pretty fantastic story too. She had to last second fill in prime time for STEVIE FREAKING WONDER at a live, televised concert for Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. She sang Fast Car, the world freaked out, the end.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
I dunno, it's a really famous song. Do you need us to hold an emergency sonic bootcamp? That would be fun!
How Tracy Chapman became known is a pretty fantastic story too. She had to last second fill in prime time for STEVIE FREAKING WONDER at a live, televised concert for Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. She sang Fast Car, the world freaked out, the end.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
I heard Tracy Chapman open for Bob Dylan at a concert at the Gorge in 1988. I went with a couple of friends. We were late, had to park on the side of the road and we walked a half mile to get to the amphitheater. Reserved seats, my ass by that point. We ended up on a knowl far behind where we were supposed to be. Chapman was concluding her set and encored with Fast Car as we settled in. It was the high point for me as every word Dylan sang thereafter was disharmonized by one of my companions.
Every.Goddamned.Word.of.Every.
Goddamned.Song.
If ever there was murder in my heart... Worst Dylan concert I ever attended as a consequence.
The saving grace was when we walked downslope afterwards. Once we left the reach of the lights, I looked up and saw a sky filled with the Milky Way and more stars than I had seen in years. More stars and at least three satellites silently gliding across the heavens above. It was the most glorious night sky I had seen in more than twenty years, even with all the headlights of the cars shining on the highway ahead of us.That was the high point of the otherwise whole misbegotten day and night.
posted by y2karl at 4:05 PM on July 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Every.Goddamned.Word.of.Every.
Goddamned.Song.
If ever there was murder in my heart... Worst Dylan concert I ever attended as a consequence.
The saving grace was when we walked downslope afterwards. Once we left the reach of the lights, I looked up and saw a sky filled with the Milky Way and more stars than I had seen in years. More stars and at least three satellites silently gliding across the heavens above. It was the most glorious night sky I had seen in more than twenty years, even with all the headlights of the cars shining on the highway ahead of us.That was the high point of the otherwise whole misbegotten day and night.
posted by y2karl at 4:05 PM on July 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I mean all commercial radio sucks. Country radio is just a subset of that.
Fine, but not all commercial radio formats are as unabashedly racist and misogynistic.
Classic rock might come close, because it has cemented itself as the other format that mostly wants to reassure old white men they’re the only ones who count. But every once in a while they’ll throw a bone in the form of a coed band (Fleetwood Mac, Heart), or a group the listeners won’t realize is multiracial (Van Halen, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Thin Lizzy).
Country radio’s target audience is too fragile even for that.
posted by armeowda at 4:15 PM on July 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
Fine, but not all commercial radio formats are as unabashedly racist and misogynistic.
Classic rock might come close, because it has cemented itself as the other format that mostly wants to reassure old white men they’re the only ones who count. But every once in a while they’ll throw a bone in the form of a coed band (Fleetwood Mac, Heart), or a group the listeners won’t realize is multiracial (Van Halen, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Thin Lizzy).
Country radio’s target audience is too fragile even for that.
posted by armeowda at 4:15 PM on July 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
The thing that gets lost in a lot of "commercial radio sucks" conversations is there is a vast audience for radio that gets widely overlooked. People who work in warehouses, construction sites, and other such places really want music to get their day to move along, but they aren't allowed to wear headphones and streaming is an individual thing and unless you have a strong social group people won't allow one person to program the music.
So it's radio. It's radio all across a wide swath of employment that is often discounted here on the Blue.
Those people wish radio were better too. But it's for music it's a lowest-common-denominator programming thing that is being chosen at said workplaces. And so Tracy Chapmen isn't played often and Journey is played maybe twice an hour.
posted by hippybear at 4:29 PM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
So it's radio. It's radio all across a wide swath of employment that is often discounted here on the Blue.
Those people wish radio were better too. But it's for music it's a lowest-common-denominator programming thing that is being chosen at said workplaces. And so Tracy Chapmen isn't played often and Journey is played maybe twice an hour.
posted by hippybear at 4:29 PM on July 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
Ah, you're reminding me of my coworker who insisted on blasting country every day and wouldn't use headphones in a shared office. I wouldn't have cared except the radio was playing a lot of "bro country" and I could not take that at 8-9 a.m. At least "bro country" doesn't seem to be as much of a Thing any more...unless we start a Jason Aldean thread, which frankly I don't wanna.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:55 PM on July 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:55 PM on July 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
I just heard an easy listening muzak version of Fast Car at the Japanese 7-11 for the first time, not sure if pure coincidence or due to the recent attention, but either way it put a smile on my face despite easily being the worst version I've heard.
posted by p3t3 at 7:00 PM on July 19, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by p3t3 at 7:00 PM on July 19, 2023 [5 favorites]
I mean I don’t disagree: I would also love better radio. I love radio deeply. It’s just been thoroughly ruined.
posted by Miko at 7:03 PM on July 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Miko at 7:03 PM on July 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I mentioned this article to my wife and she reminded me about Reliable Car, an insufferably smug song I used to sing to drive her crazy to the tune of Fast Car about working a boring but stable job, paying attention to my credit score and not having any problems with alcoholism or generational trauma while driving a second-hand Camry.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:05 PM on July 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:05 PM on July 20, 2023 [5 favorites]
I appreciate hearing a male voice singing about having someone's arm around his shoulder as they drive in the other person's car. Until I heard it in this song I didn't realize how rarely you see that image in pop culture (in a romantic, not athletic, sense).
The studio version is not great -- it sounds like they forgot to take out the click track -- but the solo live version is lovely. I'm a guitarist, and this version feels like it's about the pleasure of learning how to play a great song. You can really tell that he's a fan.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:57 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
The studio version is not great -- it sounds like they forgot to take out the click track -- but the solo live version is lovely. I'm a guitarist, and this version feels like it's about the pleasure of learning how to play a great song. You can really tell that he's a fan.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:57 PM on July 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by Artw at 10:33 AM on July 16, 2023 [25 favorites]