She sold millions of records in many nations.
At the same time, a Black woman named Tracy Chapman was offering quiet, peace, and solace. It took a nation of millions to hold them back. Black men like Jesse Jackson, Spike Lee, Michael Jordan, and Public Enemy were all bringing good noise. Fast Car is calm, thoughtful, and personal. Hearing them is as painful as being force fed a jagged little pill. Bring the Noise?įar too many songs that are massive are shrill, contrived, and commercial. They dream of getting to Hollywood, or at least escaping poverty, broken families, and abuse. More so the young, because they are the ones who dream. This ain’t Hollywood, as they say, and Chapman’s earnestness speaks to all good people. The lyrics are about young people getting away from a situation that is somewhat less than ideal. Talkin’ Bout a Revolution (sounds like a whisper)Ĭhapman’s original came out in 1988 and was a massive hit around the world.
Whatever the opposite of tearing down a statue is, he is doing that with his cover of Fast Car. Chapman sped us away from problematic childhoods, while Valentine revisits those places, reminding us of how lucky we are now. A good blues song will transport you back to the Mississippi Delta, whether you have ever been there or not. Blue-eyed Blues?Īs songs, these two versions of Fast Car transport the listener to somewhere else, accomplishing in the mind what the lyrics desire so much. Both are so heartfelt and authentic that they refused to be ignored, so honest that they break your heart. Valentine’s version is definitely his own, but it shares the same intrinsic, smoldering intensity that Chapman’s original has. Valentine reintroduced me to an old friend, the Tracy Chapman song Fast Car. That’s an old American trick first made famous by Will Rogers : “A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet.” i Other times he puts his special spin on songs we don’t know and don’t love, introducing us to new ditties. Beloved American Troubadour Dick Valentine often gifts music lovers around the world with cover versions of songs we know and love.
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