In 1988, Tracy Chapman released the lead single off her self-titled debut. A subdued acoustic ballad about a young woman trying to escape the cycle of poverty, “Fast Car” was an unlikely hit that became Chapman’s most well-known song.
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“I was simply doing pretty much what I had been doing for quite some time,” said Chapman of everything leading up to her debut album in a 1999 interview. “I started writing songs and playing guitar when I was 7 or 8 years old, I wrote some of the songs on that album when I was 16, I had been playing the same kind of music until I made my first record, and surprisingly, I found this place in popular music. I really didn’t expect that any of my records would be as successful as they have been.”
“Fast Car” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and earned Chapman three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and the one she won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The Meaning of “Fast Car”
“Fast Car” is written from the perspective of a woman whose life has not turned out the way she had dreamed.
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Startin’ from zero, got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
Me, myself, I got nothing to prove
Further into the lyrics, the story reveals that she quit school and works at a convenience store to pay the bills while her deadbeat boyfriend hangs out at the bar.
See, my old man’s got a problem
He lives with the bottle, that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for working
His body’s too young to look like his
Mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said, “somebody’s got to take care of him”
So I quit school and that’s what I did
By the chorus, she reminisces of better days, when they had bigger hopes and dreams while riding in his fast car.
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
Still gotta make a decision
Leave tonight, or live and die this way
So, I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder
And I, I, had a feeling that I belonged
I, I, had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won’t have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
Finally see what it means to be living
Covers and Luke Combs
In 2011, “Fast Car” reentered the British charts at No. 4 after Michael Collings performed it on Britain’s Got Talent. Several years later, British DJ and producer Jonas Blue released a version of “Fast Car” that went to No. 2 in the UK, while artists like Kelly Clarkson, Sam Smith, and more have also covered the song throughout the years.
By the summer of 2023, Luke Combs went to No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart and No. 2 on the Hot 100 with his cover of “Fast Car.’ Featured on his fourth album, Gettin’ Old, “Fast Car” was more than another cover song for the country singer, who recently shared that he would listen to the Chapman hit, and her entire eponymous album, while driving around with his father in a beat-up 1988 Ford F-150.
“There was this one song that really stuck out to me,” said Combs during a recent concert. “It was called ‘Fast Car.’ That song meant a lot to me since then—for my whole life. I always think about my dad when it comes on and us spending time together.”
Photo by Trisha Leeper/WireImage
