Luke Combs cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" sparks racism debate

Washington Post:

As Luke Combs's hit cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" dominates the country charts, it’s bringing up some complicated emotions in fans & singers who know that Chapman, as a queer Black woman, would have an almost zero chance at that achievement herself.

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by Anonymousreply 118July 20, 2023 6:52 AM

Eh most people are mocking the author of this stupid piece. Chapman has already commented and she’s thrilled for the songs new found success.

The author of the article didn’t do her homework as the song and chairman’s debut album were huge when they were released in 1988. The album went number one and fast car managed to hit number 6 on a pop chart dominated by schlocky pop songs. Chapman also won 3 Grammys in 1989.

by Anonymousreply 2July 17, 2023 3:43 AM

*Chapman’s debut album.

by Anonymousreply 3July 17, 2023 3:45 AM

Fast Car has been covered by over 80 artists, and it was also a hit by two others.

DJ Jonas Blue's version featuring Dakota (Top 10 Europe, NZ, and Australia) and Tobtok's version featuring River (Top 20 Australia).

by Anonymousreply 4July 17, 2023 4:13 AM

Omggggg. The racialization of everything in America once again. Chapman’s original song is not a country song and was a big hit in its own right.

by Anonymousreply 5July 17, 2023 4:21 AM

I know in the age of the internet and dying print press that these authors have to creat click bait arguments and articles but what some of them are doing is really dangerous. They are so well educated they should know better and be better.

by Anonymousreply 6July 17, 2023 4:22 AM

It's not like Pat Boone taking money away from Little Richard by recording copycat versions of his songs for white radio.

This is a 40-year-old song, much loved and critically acclaimed.

by Anonymousreply 7July 17, 2023 4:24 AM

You could just as easily celebrate the fact that a white country singer who wasn’t even alive when the song came out became emotionally invested in a song by a black queer artist and decided to cover it in an entirely different genre. That’s a celebration of what Chapman actually did rather than creating a counterfactual narrative in defense of a black queer female country artist who only exists as a hypothetical.

by Anonymousreply 8July 17, 2023 4:56 AM

[quote] Omggggg. The racialization of everything in America once again. Chapman’s original song is not a country song and was a big hit in its own right.

Completely agree that this is not the right forum for this discussion. Chapman has commented and that should be the last word.

The Combs version sounds remarkably like the original so it's not clear what makes his version country if hers wasn't.

by Anonymousreply 9July 17, 2023 5:08 AM

[quote] They are so well educated they should know better and be better.

They’re woke educated.

by Anonymousreply 10July 17, 2023 5:08 AM

[quote] Completely agree that this is not the right forum for this discussion.

Come again?

by Anonymousreply 11July 17, 2023 5:09 AM

T8 Right. That’s how I would view it. I thank god for my parents that despite having a dysfunctional relationship they always made me see the light and potential of humanity.

by Anonymousreply 12July 17, 2023 5:11 AM

I remember seeing Tracy Chapman perform the song on the Grammys. She was not ignored.

by Anonymousreply 13July 17, 2023 5:14 AM

I hope his version sells a billion copies because Chapman owns her publishing and will profit greatly from the song's renewed commercial success.

by Anonymousreply 14July 17, 2023 5:16 AM

R9 it’s subtle; his version has more country instrumentation. A lot of American music categorization is raced based though. Just how it is.

His version is not badly sung but has that annoying overproduction sound I feel that most modern music with live instruments have. Anyone get what I’m saying. Not only is Tracy, it being her song, sung better with all the subtle vocal techniques in the how she executes the lyrics but also it is better produced and engineered. It sounds more real.

by Anonymousreply 15July 17, 2023 5:18 AM

My issue with the Combs singing the song is racism, but that he adds NOTHING to the song. He basically mimics Chapman's singing note for note. Sure, Chapman's version is basically accoustic guitar and his adds more instruments, but the actual singing is the same.

If you're going to cover a song, do something different.

by Anonymousreply 17July 17, 2023 5:21 AM

[quote] You could just as easily celebrate the fact that a white country singer who wasn’t even alive when the song came out became emotionally invested in a song by a black queer artist and decided to cover it in an entirely different genre.

I celebrate that he loved it so much he did a carbon copy cover version. Categorization by genre is almost strictly race-based. Tracy Chapman's album sold 20 million copies worldwide so I am sure millions of country music fans bought that album even though it wasn't played on country radio.

True story -- I attended college in the Southeast. Her album was huge, huge, huge and everyone loved it. There was a white kid who was almost too feral to be termed a "redneck." He played guitar in the quad, showed up everyday and sang her CD front-to-back for weeks. He sang every word without changing genders and mimicked all of her vocal inflections. It was hilarious and terrifying to hear him sing "Talking About A Revolution."

by Anonymousreply 18July 17, 2023 5:28 AM

Where is Susan when you need her?

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by Anonymousreply 19July 17, 2023 5:33 AM

What idiocy, OP. Do you have to incite a race riot nonstop? Gorgeous cover of a gorgeous song.

by Anonymousreply 20July 17, 2023 6:07 AM

Maybe she'll make Chapman a whole bunch of money like when Whitney covered Always love you for the Bodyguard.

by Anonymousreply 21July 17, 2023 6:09 AM

Op She is not queer, she is an open lesbian.

by Anonymousreply 22July 17, 2023 6:11 AM

Emily Yahr is a hack writer.

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by Anonymousreply 24July 17, 2023 6:26 AM

I finally listened to this song to see what the fuss was about. He's getting a lot of credit for being faithful to the original, but what's the point of doing a cover if you don't reinterpret it? I can hear karaoke at the corner bar for free.

I'm surprised that country music fans are accepting a man singing from a female perspective. Doubtful if Orville Peck or Trixie Mattel could have gotten away with it.

by Anonymousreply 25July 17, 2023 6:33 AM

R25 millions of songs have been covered by millions of people who have covered the original exactly as it was. This whole fucking debate is stupid.

by Anonymousreply 26July 17, 2023 6:36 AM

Tracy Chapman is laughing all the way to the bank. She’s the first black female songwriter to hit number one on the country charts. I’m not really sure what the problem is, I don’t think there is a problem.

by Anonymousreply 27July 17, 2023 6:37 AM

R25 Because the narrative of the song is not really gender specific. No pronouns as to the protagonist’s partner is even made.

by Anonymousreply 28July 17, 2023 6:39 AM

Bullshit, “it wouldn’t be possible”. Charley Pride was a huge success in Country and won all the top awards and had number ones. He played the game. Eminem didn’t show up and start rapping wearing a tuxedo. It’s like everything you have to play the game. You don’t show up and sing Dance Pop with a cowboy hat on. All this race bullshit is so disingenuous.

About Charley Pride:

His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Records except for Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career (1966–1987), he had 52 top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 30 of which made it to number one. He won the Entertainer of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards in 1971 and was awarded a Grammy for "Best Country Vocal Performance, Male" in 1972.

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by Anonymousreply 29July 17, 2023 6:42 AM

R6 These authors may be "so well educated" but the craptastic arguments are the bread and butter of severely bastardized and watered down political economy, post-structural - critical theory, and social science. They were trained and rewarded by cut rate professors and they are rewarded by echo chambers.

by Anonymousreply 30July 17, 2023 6:42 AM

[quote]My issue with the Combs singing the song is racism

What?!

by Anonymousreply 31July 17, 2023 6:43 AM

[quote]Because the narrative of the song is not really gender specific. No pronouns as to the protagonist’s partner is even made.

You got a fast car

We go cruising, entertain ourselves

You still ain't got a job

[bold]And I work in the market as a checkout girl[/bold]

by Anonymousreply 33July 17, 2023 6:44 AM

The song is 35 years old. Combs and his fans weren't even born when the original charted. I have no problem with a faithful cover. Hopefully it will lead listeners back to the original artist.

by Anonymousreply 34July 17, 2023 6:45 AM

Yet again, we have an article from a non-black woman trying to stir up racial divide between blacks and whites.

by Anonymousreply 36July 17, 2023 6:51 AM

Do you know who cares about this? Poor woke people who need something to feel better about themselves. People who need to blame another race for their misfortune in life.

Do you know who doesn’t? Black “Queer” Multi-millionaire Tracy Chapman, who probably just got her first royalty check from this cover.

by Anonymousreply 37July 17, 2023 6:54 AM

Do people not understand that she owns the rights to the song? And therefore she gave him permission to cover & record this song, explicitly, contractually. There was no he just popped up and did it. She was asked and allowed him to do it. It’s her decision. Is that clear?

by Anonymousreply 38July 17, 2023 6:55 AM

I have a funny saying. Conservatives have been putting blacks against blacks since the slave ships. And liberals have been putting blacks against whites since the civil rights movement.

by Anonymousreply 39July 17, 2023 6:57 AM

I'm not sure you have to ask. You just have to pay when you do it. Anyone know?

by Anonymousreply 40July 17, 2023 6:57 AM

R40 if you’re going to record it for commercial release you have to get the rights first if it’s still under copyright. That’s the definitive answer.

You can do a cover in a live performance, and sometimes on YouTube or platform like that without permission.

by Anonymousreply 41July 17, 2023 6:59 AM

R38 She certainly didn’t give Nicki Minaj permission to sample the song for her and Nas’ track; she also won a 450,000 copyright infringement lawsuit against her. Chapman doesn’t do oversexualized hip hop although Nicki is the GOAT of female rappers.

by Anonymousreply 42July 17, 2023 6:59 AM

R39, I don't think you know what "funny" means.

by Anonymousreply 43July 17, 2023 6:59 AM

R42 yes, NM didn’t ask for permission. That’s why Tracy sued. She’s already come out and said that she’s fine with this cover, so obviously there’s no issue, one would assume.

by Anonymousreply 44July 17, 2023 7:01 AM

Luke Combs is coming out of such a Republican space as a white straight male to inhabit the space of an impoverished Black lesbian. It's a brilliant way of making both sides of the polarized country take a walk in the other side's shoes. This is the sort of thing that can save us from Trumpism.

by Anonymousreply 45July 17, 2023 7:01 AM

“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’” - TRACY CHAPMAN

by Anonymousreply 46July 17, 2023 7:02 AM

R40 It’s tricky because you don’t necessarily have to ask first. But the internet is so prolific that many songs make their way on it without being officially released. Some publishers don’t mind as long as they see royalties but now in the age of streaming when songs makes it to the public without any official commercial means and then said publisher artist is not a fan of the copyrighted song they can legitimately sue. In Nicki’s case she never made any commercial profit from track produced from the sample but it doesn’t negate the fact that she allowed it to make it to the internet and public radio without the artist’s permission. The Nicki and Nas song was actually played on New York radio.

by Anonymousreply 47July 17, 2023 7:05 AM

LOL these race baiters are combing over everything to try to find an angle.

One of the Arby’s (RBs) on Twitter posted a video of Luke doing this song in concert and apparently he didn’t give a shout out to Tracy, so this is what this dumb ass tweeted:

‘I'm glad that Tracy Chapman is making a killing from royalties from @lukecombs's cover of her iconic song, "Fast Car". But if he's not giving her credit for the original at his concerts, that is some heavy misogynoirist erasure right there- period.’

If you see the word ‘misogynoir’ you better believe that you’re in deep woke batshit.

by Anonymousreply 48July 17, 2023 7:05 AM

R47 any legitimate, mainstream recording artist is going to go to whoever holds the publishing rights and ask for permission to record a song before they record it or at least before they release it. Most Record label attorneys will make sure of that.

by Anonymousreply 49July 17, 2023 7:08 AM

Did the idiot that wrote the article ask Tracy if she was “Queer” before she wrote that article? Tracy always identified as a lesbian. We should cancel that likely straight girl hack writer for using a gay slur.

by Anonymousreply 50July 17, 2023 7:11 AM

misogynoir - that's a new one for me.

I'm going to my cis straight white woman neighbor's menses hut to ask her if she ever heard of it, either. The hut is out back behind the green pool and sustainably sourced fair-trade pool cabana next to the pottery studio.

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by Anonymousreply 51July 17, 2023 7:12 AM

R48 you better believe Whitney Houston didn’t say shit ever about Dolly Parton, especially wasn’t giving her a shout out at concerts

by Anonymousreply 52July 17, 2023 7:14 AM

I’m the one who posted about the Nicki Minaj ordeal. I remember when it happened but then I googled to brush up on it. Nicki Minaj actually did ask for permission; albeit after the track was produced which is common in pop music and it was never included in the albums ultimate release. However it was leaked by someone a DJ WITHOUT Nicki’s permission. I sometimes wonder if artist like Chapman resent women who look like Nicki and how they may have treated her growing up. Yet she lets this generic ass white boy record this vanilla cover. I kid but one does wonder. Here is the Nicki song; I always thought it was Fast Car but it’s another Chapman song.

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by Anonymousreply 53July 17, 2023 7:21 AM

R53 honestly backwoods white boys like hanging with butch lesbians, they respect masculinity and anyone who honors it. Now femme or even masc gays are a different story. BAPS like Nicki probably did torment Tracy.

by Anonymousreply 55July 17, 2023 7:24 AM

These types of articles and discussions, and the social politics behind them, are never really about what these folks think they are doing, and are certainly not about making the world a more fair/equal/just place. It's all about one-upping everyone else on the self-righteous moral scale of society. It's about being 'right' in their own heads, and then lecturing everyone else about it. And it ultimately accomplishes nothing. It's not about education or justice...it's about their own ego.

by Anonymousreply 56July 17, 2023 7:27 AM

Yes and it is cultivated and rewarded in universities.

by Anonymousreply 57July 17, 2023 7:31 AM

Absolutely correct. Just lecturing and virtue signaling that accomplishes nothing.

by Anonymousreply 58July 17, 2023 7:59 AM

Remember when I was fapping at speeds that made me feel like I was drunk

by Anonymousreply 59July 17, 2023 8:11 AM

Irish boyband Boyzone had a huge hit with Baby Can I Hold You just 10 years after Tracy's version stalled in the charts.

Gabrielle had a huge hit with Dreams in 1993 which was based on Fast Car, but rerecorded when the sample of Fast Car couldn't be used.

And Mutya Bueno from the Sugababes recorded it. Nearly 100 artists from all different genres have recorded Fast Car. I woudn't be surprised if Susan Boyle had done a version. It's got a great lyric and the harmonies show off the singer's voice really well.

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by Anonymousreply 60July 17, 2023 8:13 AM

HOW VERY DARE STUBBY-DICKED CIS WHITE IRISHMEN SING THIS BLACK MASTERPIECE OF IMMENSE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE! I AM APPALLED ON BEHALF OF TRACY CHAPMAN!

McMisogynoir Genocide!

by Anonymousreply 61July 17, 2023 8:25 AM

R61 Easy now there buttercup. You don’t want your point to be overlooked by histrionics.

by Anonymousreply 62July 17, 2023 8:55 AM

Tracy Chapman got her big break at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert when Stevie Wonder had a mishap with his backing tapes and she filled the spot and sang Fast Car.

So if it hadn't been for the white supremacist patriarchal apartheid system imposed on indigenous folx of colour by coloniser Europeans then Nelson Mandela wouldn't have been in prison and having a birthday party at Wembley Stadium for Tracy to perform at.

Makes you think!

by Anonymousreply 63July 17, 2023 9:01 AM

I'm not giving this pseudo insurrectionary sectarian a piece of my show!

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by Anonymousreply 64July 17, 2023 9:15 AM

R29 oh shit. The liberal narrative is shooketh. How dare you state such facts.

by Anonymousreply 65July 17, 2023 10:00 AM

And the people at the WaPo and NYTs wonder why they continue to slid into irrelevance.

Democracy dies in ideology. All the propaganda that's fit to print.

by Anonymousreply 66July 17, 2023 12:57 PM

Kim Wayans brilliant bit on how Tracy Chapman writes a song.

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by Anonymousreply 67July 17, 2023 2:29 PM

Maybe the misogynoir wouldn’t be an issue if the new blq women in country weren’t pushing a political agenda so hard. Yeah, yeah Toby Keith blah, blah. Look what happened to the Dixie Chicks. You don’t go make rap as a white person and rap about black-on-white crime and expect to be a huge success. The last thing conservative country fans want is to be constantly bashed over the head with liberal propaganda.

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by Anonymousreply 68July 17, 2023 3:03 PM

R65 the wokies never acknowledge Charley Pride because they need to focus on the negative constantly. Notice how they just roll over the firsts and accomplishments, always looking for a reason that they’re being victimized.

The whole Grammys So White controversy is a perfect example. If you look at the black winners of the major categories over the last 40-50 years they account for around 25%, which is fantastic considering the black population is only 13%, and the percentage of black nominees is very high like 40%. But the wokies needed to find an angle, so their whole argument is that the Grammys are racist, because the black nominees didn’t win in proportion to their nominations.

They complain about how the Academy Awards and the movie industry is so white, but never acknowledge the success of Denzel, Halle, or Whoopi. In the mid-90s Whoopi was the highest paid actress in Hollywood, does anyone ever discuss that?

One thing wokies aka blq supremacists don’t care about is Latinx/Hispanic, Asian, or Native American representation. They only care about Blqs dominating everything. It’s a pendulum swing.

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by Anonymousreply 70July 17, 2023 3:17 PM

Imagine if the Emily Yahr the author of this garbage was around when Conway Twitty did a cover of the pointer sisters megahit “slow hand” and had a hit of his own with it.

by Anonymousreply 71July 17, 2023 3:46 PM

Just as clarification, you do not have to get permission to release a straight up cover. That is covered by mechanical license, which is compulsory.

Derivative works are not covered by mechanical license, so using samples without permission is still a problem. Changing lyrics, beyond a simple gender swap also requires permission. Examples:

Cyndi Lauper changed the lyrics to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and she obtained permission from Robert Hazard to do so

Dolly Parton changed the some of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven from her Horns and Halos album, and she got approval from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to do so.

They only needed permission because of the lyrical changes.

It may be a courtesy to ask permission to record a cover, but there isn't a legal requirement to do so.

by Anonymousreply 72July 17, 2023 3:48 PM

Pet Shop Boys had to ask U2 for permission to do a medley of Where The Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

U2 replied saying "what have we done to deserve this"

by Anonymousreply 73July 17, 2023 3:50 PM

More clicks for Bezos. Great.

by Anonymousreply 74July 17, 2023 3:58 PM

I love country music. And I love Chapman’s “Fast Car”.

But I hate this cover. It annoys me. I don’t know why. Maybe because I grew up on the original? Maybe because he didn’t do anything original with it?

He sings it well, though. At least technically. And I look forward to his inevitable duet with Tracy at next year’s Grammys.

by Anonymousreply 75July 17, 2023 4:02 PM

It's a very boring cover. He doesn't add anything to it other than maybe an electric guitar in the chorus. The rest is exactly the same as the original.

by Anonymousreply 76July 17, 2023 4:07 PM

Bad thread title—the article did not call out a racism debate. It describes a conversation about race within country music. Don’t stir shit. Thank you.

by Anonymousreply 77July 17, 2023 4:11 PM

That’s never a conversation when it’s styled as a conversation in wapo.

by Anonymousreply 78July 17, 2023 4:14 PM

Has SHE said anything? I mean, it's been covered plenty of times before (I'll particularly note the Black Pumas cover which I really like). Also, doesn't she get paid if someone else makes it a hit? Plus, it was a top 10 hit for Chapman, and to this day it's played and everybody knows it. Maybe as queer, black women, she couldn't achieve that on the country charts back in the day, and maybe not even today, but who knows. I don't understand any of this. It's a cover of a massively popular song. She gets credit for writing it. An artist can't control the success of a cover.

by Anonymousreply 79July 17, 2023 4:20 PM

Read the article—all of your questions are discussed.

Or read other articles on h to he same topic.

by Anonymousreply 80July 17, 2023 5:17 PM

I haven't clicked the link, but I'll bet the article was written by a white woman.

by Anonymousreply 81July 17, 2023 5:47 PM

I’ll bet you’re kind of a jerk.

by Anonymousreply 82July 17, 2023 6:19 PM

Luke Combs got a bunch of country music fans to put millions of dollars into Tracy Chapman's bank account.

I see no issues.

by Anonymousreply 83July 17, 2023 7:46 PM

And yes she could do it herself but she would have to be country. Have to come out with a cowboy hat and all that stuff like Old Town Rd.

by Anonymousreply 84July 17, 2023 7:47 PM

R83 and I don’t think he changed any of the lyrics, so no songwriting credit, more money for Tracey I think?

by Anonymousreply 85July 17, 2023 7:52 PM

Why is no one ever bitching about the lack of white representation in Hip-Hop? Guess it’s fine when it’s switched.

by Anonymousreply 86July 17, 2023 8:03 PM

Chapman's gonna make some nice dough from this song now and she's probably quite happy.

About the piece, I'm so sick of the eternal victims

by Anonymousreply 88July 17, 2023 8:26 PM

R87 no argument to that? No debate?

by Anonymousreply 89July 17, 2023 8:31 PM

R81 Yes, and if you look at her other articles for WaPo half of them have something to do with Taylor Swift.

by Anonymousreply 90July 17, 2023 8:34 PM

The author is Middle Eastern

by Anonymousreply 91July 17, 2023 8:35 PM

[quote]I’ll bet you’re kind of a jerk.

But a correct jerk; she's white.

by Anonymousreply 92July 17, 2023 9:15 PM

R89. There’s no discussion, debate or argument as to openly bigoted posters. Full stop. The end.

by Anonymousreply 93July 17, 2023 9:42 PM

R93 you’re mentally insane.

by Anonymousreply 94July 17, 2023 11:22 PM

R93 {BAM} race card hits the table

by Anonymousreply 95July 17, 2023 11:23 PM

LOL another needlessly red tagged thread from MurieI’s mad mods

by Anonymousreply 96July 17, 2023 11:29 PM

I am glad he didn't change the gender--it is pretty radical to hear a male country singer call himself a "checkout girl."

by Anonymousreply 97July 17, 2023 11:42 PM

Tracy has given few interviews in her life and generally has been a class act.

Her statement backed that up.

by Anonymousreply 98July 18, 2023 12:52 AM

R95 this isn’t the Brooklyn Academy of Music. But you are an ASS.

by Anonymousreply 99July 18, 2023 2:41 AM

[quote] [R48] you better believe Whitney Houston didn’t say shit ever about Dolly Parton, especially wasn’t giving her a shout out at concerts

First, she didn't have to because everyone identified IWALY as a Dolly Parton song. Second, Whitney definitely "Whitney-ized" her cover of IWALY and it wasn't a carbon copy of the original. That said, I think it is ridiculous to suggest Combs needs to credit Chapman whenever he performs the song.

by Anonymousreply 100July 18, 2023 3:43 AM

That said, I think it is ridiculous to suggest Combs needs to credit Chapman whenever he performs the song.

Said no one in this thread. You do t know how covers actually work.

by Anonymousreply 101July 18, 2023 3:54 AM

R101 Read the thread, it has been demanded.

by Anonymousreply 102July 18, 2023 4:35 AM

OP, who is now red-tagged, has been reading/watching FOX, because when I Googled this to find the Washington Post story, FOX News' reporting of the Washington Post story was the first result.

by Anonymousreply 103July 18, 2023 4:49 AM

r96 Muriel didn't red tag the thread, she red tagged the OP, who is a troll who's started a lot of incendiary threads.

by Anonymousreply 104July 18, 2023 4:56 AM

So, his success with her song shows how racist country music is because she didn't enjoy similar success when the song came out almost 40 years ago. If you're looking for evidence of racism, there are less convoluted examples to find. At least, Chapman gets a nice fat royalty check. I mean, really, who cares? Maybe the song will open up her music to a new audience. Or not.

by Anonymousreply 105July 18, 2023 4:59 AM

Luke Combs did a reverent (maybe too reverent) version of Tracy Chapman's song, and she likes it.

What's wrong with that?

I'd much rather see "Fast Car" be a success than the last excrescence from human meat fart Jason Aldean.

by Anonymousreply 106July 18, 2023 5:25 AM

[quote]OP, who is now red-tagged, has been reading/watching FOX, because when I Googled this to find the Washington Post story, FOX News' reporting of the Washington Post story was the first result.

Are you joking? This was the hot topic on Twitter about three days ago.

Tracy was trending and everything. I was afraid she'd died.

by Anonymousreply 107July 18, 2023 11:45 AM

remember when I was fingering myself at speeds that made me feel like I was drunk?

by Anonymousreply 108July 18, 2023 11:52 AM

I find it highly unlikely that the original Fast Car was even pushed to country radio back in the 80s. It was an early part of the female singer/songwriter revival that eventually lead to Lilith Fair. That was before the days of Alt-Country, and Americana roots revival.

by Anonymousreply 109July 18, 2023 2:54 PM

R109 it also was not cool among rock/indie artists back then to be country

by Anonymousreply 110July 18, 2023 5:03 PM

Chapman should respond in an op ed that it's "problematic" for a white woman to think she can speak for Chapman in regards to the use of her songs and how the public reacts to covers of her songs.

by Anonymousreply 111July 19, 2023 8:45 PM

The Pointer Sisters had a hit on the country charts with "Fairytale" in 1974. They performed at the Grand Ole Opry.

by Anonymousreply 112July 20, 2023 1:24 AM

R109 has it. Country radio was more insular back then. I would bet nowadays some country radio stations are also top 40 mainstream. Just like many rhythmic stations are also top 40 mainstream.

by Anonymousreply 115July 20, 2023 3:17 AM

Fast Car was top 10 on the radio playing constantly in the summer of 1988 when my first love and I loaded up his pickup and headed cross country. We were off on our big gay adventure to glamourous El Lay with " his arm wrapped round my shoulder" so in love "felt like I was drunk". When arrived in WeHo we "had a feeling like we belonged" We really felt "we could be some one." Whenever I hear Chapman's classic song I'm 22 again and the world belongs to Brucetopher.

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by Anonymousreply 116July 20, 2023 3:22 AM

"Chapman's gonna make some nice dough from this song now and she's probably quite happy.

About the piece, I'm so sick of the eternal victims."

Not just eternal but also "external" victims - third parties who really shouldn't be bitching. Chapman herself is (1) not offended, (2) happy with it, (3) getting PAID. And it's not even like Combs made a hit out of some random song. Chapman herself had massive success with it. But the world is falling apart because Chapman didn't chart on the country charts as a queer, black woman? It's the definition of reaching.

by Anonymousreply 118July 20, 2023 6:52 AM

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