“I Wanted To Crawl in a Hole”: The “Fast Car” Mistake Luke Combs Didn’t Know He Made Until Tracy Chapman Called It Out

Luke Combs released his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” in 2023 as the second single from Gettin’ Old. The song was a massive hit. It topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. It also peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart. “Fast Car” also won Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards, making Chapman the first Black songwriter to win Song of the Year for a solo composition.

There’s no denying that Combs turned in a stellar version of the song that he spent hours of his childhood listening to with his dad. Additionally, he called performing “Fact Car” with Chapman at the Grammy Awards a highlight of his career. However, after countless fans around the world heard the song, he learned that he made a mistake while recording it.

[RELATED: Watch Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman’s All-Time Emotional Performance of “Fast Car” at the 2024 GRAMMYs]

He talked about the moment he learned about his mistake during a recent concert.

Luke Combs on the Tracy Chapman Telling Him He Flubbed the Lyrics on “Fast Car”

Before playing the “Fast Car” during a recent concert, Luke Combs revealed that Tracy Chapman informed him that he messed up the lyrics. “It says, ‘We gotta make a decision / Leave tonight or live and die this way.’ Then, it goes into the chorus for the first time. That’s the verse that, at the very end of the song, closes the song as well,” Combs said of the line he flubbed.

“She said, ‘So when you recorded the song you said still gotta make a decision in instead of we gotta make a decision,’” Combs recalled. “That was the first time I knew that I recorded the song incorrectly was her telling me that. I remember when she said it, I wanted to crawl in a hole,” he added.  

However, Chapman wasn’t too upset about the mix-up. “Luckily, she was awesome about it. I think about it every time I sing this song and I will think about it every time I sing this song for the rest of my whole life. But she was so cool about it,” Combs said.

Featured Image by John Shearer/Getty Images for Concert For Carolina