Tracy Chapman; Luke Combs.Photo:Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty; John Shearer/Getty
Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty; John Shearer/Getty
AfterLuke Combs' cover ofTracy Chapman’s 1988 signature hit “Fast Car” has become one of the biggest hit songs of 2023, the Grammy-winning folk and soul artist is sharing her thoughts on his country-tinged version.
More than three decades after its original release, Chapman’s “Fast Car” has found a new audience — thanks to Combs' take on the song out-peaking the original’s No. 6 slot on theBillboardHot 100 at No. 2 and climbing all the way up to No. 1 on theBillboardU.S. Country Airplay chart.
Chapman, 59, spoke about the cover in an exclusive statement toBillboard, writing, “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there.”
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The country star’s cover of the song, a favorite of his from childhood, appears on his most recent albumGettin' Old.During a concert in May, he recalled being 5 years old and listening to the song, as well as the rest of Chapman’s self-titled debut album, while riding in his dad’s brown Ford F-150.
“He played me all kinds of music, and one of the first songs that I remember hearing… I love this whole album, and there was this one song that really stuck out to me, though, and it was called ‘Fast Car,'” Combs said. “And that song has meant a lot to me ever since then for my whole life. I always think about my dad when it comes on, and us spending time together."
Fans like Combs forming emotional attachments to the track is nothing new for the Ohio native singer-songwriter, whotold the BBCthat she often has people come up to her and tell her that “Fast Car” is “their song.”
“Someone told me at one point that they thought I’d been reading their mail. They were saying, ‘You seem to know my story,'” she said in 2010. “People would come up to me and tell me about a car, a relationship and some detail that they felt was in the song that represented something that had happened in their lives.”
Luke Combs; Tracy Chapman.Jason Kempin/Getty; Georges De Keerle/Getty
Jason Kempin/Getty; Georges De Keerle/Getty
Chapman was just 24 years old when the song came out, and PEOPLE described it at the time as “a female companion piece to one of Springsteen’s bucket-seat sagas.”
“Everyone was really just, one, working hard, and two, hoping that things would get better,” she said.
“Fast Car” was the lead single offTracy Chapman, and it received a massive boost after Chapman performed it at the Mandela concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Then a relatively unknown artist, she was added to the bill at the last minute afterStevie Wonderdropped out.
Luke Combs.Kevin Mazur/BBMA2020/Getty
The song quickly became a runaway success, cracking the Top 10 of theBillboardHot 100 and helping Chapman win three Grammys.
“I definitely felt the emotionality of the song, that there was something to it in that way. You never know how other people are going to respond to it,” she told the BBC. “In part everything that a person writes is autobiographical, but the songs weren’t directly so, or most of them were not, and ‘Fast Car’ wasn’t one that was directly autobiographical. I never had a fast car. It’s a story about a couple, and how they are trying to make a life together and they face various challenges.”
source: people.com
