How Art Unites Us

"Fast Car" Demonstrates There ARE Universal Themes That Everyone Recognizes and Understands

To me, the best art has always been something everyone, regardless of their circumstances in life, can relate to. It’s that level of empathy that everyone experiences in life and understands. It’s Rocky Balboa, a down on his luck nobody, pushing himself to run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art and going the distance against Apollo Creed (R.I.P. Carl Weathers) even though he loses. It’s hearing Joni Mitchell crooning out “Both Sides Now” regarding the experiences one has in life and the wisdom that comes with age. It’s the loss of identity that Willy Loman experiences in “Death of a Salesman.” It’s the look on Humphrey Bogart’s face when the love his life who dumped him and broke his heart shows up in his bar in “Casablanca.”

These themes cross all demographics; it doesn’t matter if you are black, white, asian, hispanic; it doesn’t make a difference if you are male or female; it doesn’t change if you are gay or straight; only that the art and emotion it conveys are genuine.

Which is why I don’t think anyone had a dry eye watching an aged Tracy Chapman play her 35 year old hit “Fast Car” at the Grammy’s this past weekend, with Luke Combs who made a cover of it one of the biggest hits of 2023. Even though the original recording was folk rock, back in the late ‘80s it was a top 10 song on Billboard’s Top 200 and became a worldwide hit, turning Ms. Chapman into an unlikely world reknown superstar. When Combs’ version won for the Country Music Awards’ Song of the Year, Chapman earned the CMA for writing it.

What Universal Themes Does “Fast Car” Touch On?

Fast Car remains one of the most hopeful and heartbreaking songs in memory. The first time I heard it, while in high school, I wasn’t sure what to think of it; the chorus was catchy but the verses were full of melancholy. But what I do remember vividly, was by the end of that first time I was singing along with Chapman, “I…had a feeling that I belonged. I…had a feeling I could be someone.” That alone, is something anybody can relate to and hope for. It’s the ray of positivity in an otherwise bleak song.

Back in those days, we didn’t have the internet to get song lyrics; those came with the record, which I didn’t buy at the time¹. Sure, like many, I sang along with it to the extent I could figure out the lyrics, but some of them aren’t too clear. In addition, people tend to sing lyrics as kind of a line in a poem instead of a story being told; the focus only on a good line here or there and not the overall picture. Years later, I would revisit the song again and finally read the lyrics. They broke my heart.

The song opens from the perspective of someone trying to escape their situation in life. They’re taking care of a drunk father and were ababdoned by their mother. They see the writing on the wall and if they stay there, they’ll be miserable. All they want to do is get away from their troubles and start over in the bright lights and optimism of the big city. So they get a friend with a Fast Car to drive them away.

And then it gets into the chorus as to WHY they chose this person.

That feeling of optimism, the future ahead of you, that belonging with someone else. Planning a future together. The thrill of riding a fast car around town and getting away from your troubles. The youthful naivete that everything is going to get better somewhere else. Everyone has experienced that sometime in their life.

The next verse shows some stagnancy. They’re living in a homeless shelter, the singer is working but their partner isn’t. But regardless, there’s still hope. It’s still optimistic. They dream of living out in the suburbs; some place else is always better. The Fast Car is a welcome diversion from their troubles.

The ending is heartbreak as the story comes full circle. The partner is out drinking and doesn’t spend time with the kids, while the singer works and pays all the bills. There’s no more plans for the future as the focus becomes their present situation. What the singer always wanted was the feeling of togetherness with someone else, not just a car to take them away from their troubles. They put their foot down and say something has to change. They end up in the same bleak situation they started in and wanted to get away from. Finally, the singer says to the partner to take the car and “keep on driving” because there’s no more plans they “ain’t going nowhere.”

It’s really a marvel how well this song is written. The structure, the sentiment, the universality of the situation. Such a poignant story of hope, optimism and dreams dashed when failing to live up to the expectations.

Although the song became popular again with the Combs cover, I’m still impartial to the Chapman original. It just seems so much more personal and sung from the heart.

But I have to be honest, I got goosebumps watching the Grammy’s. I mean, watch this. Not only was it two singers who could not be further apart demographically singing together in unison, completely in harmony, but look at the crowd singing along with it. That’s what music and good art can do, bring everyone together.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

While a student at Tufts University, a fellow classmate, Brian Koppelman, stole a demo tape Chapman had made that was playing at the campus radio station. The tape included the song “Talking ‘bout a Revolution.” It was for a good cause though; Koppleman’s father was Elektra Records Executive Charles Koppleman, looking for new talent. When Brian gave the tape to his father, he called her that same day and signed her. Less than a year later, she released her self-titled first album. “Fast Car” was the debut single on that album. Soon after that she was singing “Fast Car” in Wembley Stadium.

In 2010, Rolling Stone named it to their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All time (#167).

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

“I had a feeling that I belonged, I had the feeling I could be someone.”

Be someone.

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. Like most young men my age at the time, I tended more towards Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Guns n’ Roses, Van Halen, Aerosmith and other hard rock bands. Grunge was still 2-3 years away, and songs were not as quiet or calm. Chapman’s Fast Car always had a kind of country-ish element to it in that regard as it probably fit more into that genre than it did what was typically on Top 40 stations back then. That didn’t stop it from being played everywhere though; it was everywhere. People recognize good songs and great talent regardless of genre when they hear it.