Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs’ Performance Of ‘Fast Car’ Is What America Needs (VIDEO)

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NOTE: This article may include commentary reflecting the author’s position.
Social media platforms are abuzz with talk about a surprising Grammy performance on Sunday night — folk singer Tracy Chapman who hasn’t performed in public in years and country music star Luke Combs. The due performed Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car” that saw a resurgence in 2023 with Combs’s cover.

Thirty-five years after winning a Grammy for best female pop vocal performance for Fast Car, Chapman once again took to the stage to sing her hit song alongside Combs. The pair – from different generations and musical genres – performed their duet to cheers from an audience that included Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson, ending with a standing ovation and raised hands from Oprah Winfrey.
The last time Chapman performed in public was in 2020, and before that in 2015. At the Grammys, she initially appeared in the shadows – once people worked out who was on stage, loud applause broke out before dimming to a hush as the crowd was brought to a stand-still and she sang the opening lyrics.
Source: BBC Culture

Full performance of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman with Luke Combs at the Grammys.

Her smile at the beginning is the best. pic.twitter.com/Eo8aw15Snf

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 5, 2024

The song has always been a popular choice for live performance covers — Combs had been performing it at shows for years before recording it — but in a post-George Floyd world, news organizations immediately jumped on the success of the country remake painting it in zero-sum terms that the new version somehnow diminishes Chapman’s success.

There was no mention that this song was widely popular and resonated with wide swaths of the public since it was released. Back in 1988, “Fast Car” hit #6 on the Billboard charts and was nominated for “Song of the Year” and was the reason that Chapman won the “Best New Artist” and “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” Grammys that year.

There was no acknowledgement that the haunting-yet-hopeful song is now resonating with a whole new audience because the struggles spoken of in the lyrics — poverty, substance abuse, and dreams of a better life — are not limited to a particular racial or demographic group.

The song’s success with white, middle American country music fans should simply be an indicator that the song is just that good and that in the grand scheme of things, we all struggle and want a better life.

While Combs’s cover was still rocketing up the charts, WaPo posted a handwringing screed about the “problematic” nature of the song’s newfound success because the country music scene is dominated by white men.

Although many are thrilled to see “Fast Car” back in the spotlight and a new generation discovering Chapman’s work, it’s clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music.
The numbers are bleak: A recent study by data journalist Jan Diehm and musicologist Jada Watson reported that fewer than 0.5 percent of songs played on country radio in 2022 were by women of color and LGBTQ+ artists. Watson’s previous work shows that songs by women of color and LGBTQ+ artists were largely excluded from radio playlists for most of the two decades prior.
“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,” said Holly G, founder of the Black Opry, an organization for Black country music singers and fans. “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.”…
…These mixed feelings were echoed on social media last month when Combs’s “Fast Car” made headlines after it jumped to No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Chapman’s own peak of No. 6 in August 1988. Even taking into account the differences in chart metrics over time, some people had the typical visceral reaction that occurs when anyone covers an iconic song: It will never be as great as the original. But whether they liked the cover or not, others hoped this situation would lead to more awareness about the larger issues in country music and Black art in general.
Source: Washington Post (archived)

Articles and social media posts whining about the “white male country singer” essentially stealing the success of a “queer, black woman” who never would have made it in Nashvville were posted aplenty in July 2023.

Afrofuturist folk artist Jake Blount’s take was typical.

I have nothing bad to say about Luke Combs, and have heard only wonderful things about him. Because of systemic biases at play that are not his fault, I worry that we’re watching a legacy being overwritten in real-time. I’m thinking of Big Mama Thornton as I type this. https://t.co/Hn9CuT7Y1H

— jakeblount.bsky.social (@forked_queer) June 12, 2023

But what all of the DEI Cultists fail to recognize is that all that the success of the 2023 remake has done is bring more attention to Tracy Chapman as an artist.

In November, Chapman’s 1988 hit won the coveted “Best Song” CMA and she made history by being the first black songwriter to take home that award.

“It’s truly an honour for my song to be newly recognised after 35 years of its debut. Thank you to the CMAs and a special thanks to Luke and all of the fans of Fast Car,” Chapman said in a statement.

It appears that Chapman doesn’t share the same consternation that the outspoken white-knighting wokists express when they’re ranting about Combs’s cover. She didn’t seem to care that the renewed attention to her song was because some white guy sang it.

Why would she?

Chapman made around $500,000 in royalties just in the first few months of the release of Combs’s remake and that might be up to a cool million by now.

But that’s not all for the semi-retired musician whose last song release was back in 2008 — there’s a whole Tracy Chapman revival happening.

After the Grammy performance, Chapman’s original version of “Fast Car” has hit #1 on iTunes, and so did her self-titled debut album.

Chapman joined country singer Luke Combs for a rare performance of the song at Sunday’s Grammys ceremony. Moments after, “Fast Car” shot to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart. Her 1988 debut album, Tracy Chapman, also sat at No. 1.
Source: NPR

For his part, Combs doesn’t seem to care that Chapman is a black lesbian. He just sees her as an artist that wrote a song that he has loved since he was a child.

In a video shared at the Grammys, Combs spoke about his love for the song and how honored he is to be associated with Chapman.

“That song, ‘Fast Car’, it was my favorite song before I even knew what a favorite song was,” said Combs. “It can be felt and related to by all kinds of people around the world.”

“It’s just such a cool full circle moment for me,” he added. “Just to be associated with her in any way is super humbling for me.”

The real reason the left is melting down is that this puts a nail in the coffin of the DEI narrative and brings us right back to the late 80s/early90s when racism was much less of an issue and the Left and the Right spoke out about issues that are concerning to their voter bases without resorting to tossing around the word “Nazi” in every second sentence.

It also shows that the social issues that Chapman wrote about in her 1988 hit are still around and the song is resonating with both the poor and a shrinking middle class who are concerned that their kids won’t have life as good as they do now — but there’s always that kernel of hope.

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