THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

425-Tracy Chapman-Fast Car.

1988-Number 5 single. In 2011 the song re-entered the chart, and this time peaked at Number 4.

Best Bit-At 2.01. What about this for an accolade! ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine ranked the song at number 167 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, the highest ranking song both written and performed by a female artist.

Tracy Chapman was born on March 30th, 1964, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, she began playing the guitar and writing songs at the age eight. After graduating from ‘Wooster School,’ in Connecticut, she then attended ‘Tufts University,’ in Massachusetts, majoring in Anthropology. While a student at Tufts, she busked in nearby spots, and recorded demos of songs at the Tufts University radio station, ‘WMFO,’ which the radio station would play. A student at ‘Tufts’ called Brian Koppelman, heard her playing, and brought her to the attention of his father, Charles Koppelman, (1940-2022) who ran ‘SBK Publishing,’ he signed her in 1986. After she graduated from ‘Tufts’ in 1987, he helped her to sign a contract with ‘Elektra Records.’ Tracy Chapman was already signed to ‘Elektra’ records when her career received a major boost. On June 11th, 1988, at Wembley Stadium, London, England, Chapman was one of the many artists booked to play at the ‘Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute,’ which was being broadcast to 67 countries, and an audience of 600 million. Chapman had duly played her afternoon spot, but when problems arose over Stevie Wonder’s (see also best songs 920-843-834-682-570-603-366-205-152 and 65) backing track being lost, Chapman was asked to fill in at prime time, bringing her acclaimed exposure. The sales of her self titled debut Album rocketed, taking it to Number 1 on the Billboard Album chart, with the single ‘Fast Car’ going top 10 in the UK and America.

The discography of Tracy Chapman includes eight studio Albums released between 1988-2008, and 22 singles released between 1988-2009, there are also two official compilation Albums available. In America on Billboard, her self titled debut studio Album reached Number 1, and has gone on to sell in excess of 20 million copies worldwide, while two of her singles have made the Billboard Hot 100, top 40, with ‘Give Me One Reason,’ peaking the highest at Number 3 in 1995, while ‘Fast Car’ reached Number 6. In the UK, ‘Fast Car’ remains as her only charting single to date.

‘Fast Car’ was the first of three singles released from Tracy Chapman’s self titled debut studio Album, from April 1988, the song was written by Tracy Chapman, with the production being by David Kershenbaum, who was born in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Kershenbaum is a veteran music producer who has worked with artists including Duran Duran, Cat Stevens, and Tori Amos, and has earned 75 international Gold and Platinum Albums, as well as multiple ‘Grammy’ awards, and an ‘Oscar’ nomination. As well as producing Tracy Chapman’s debut Album, he also produced her second Album ‘Crossroads,’ (1989) and her fifth ‘Telling Stories’ (2000.) As a music supervisor, Kershenbaum has worked on many films. He supervised music for many movies, including ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ soundtrack, which has sold in excess of 1,800,000 copies. Other films he worked on include ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,’ (1989) ‘Road House,’ (1989) and ‘Navy SEALs’ (1990.)

‘Fast Car’ re-entered the UK top 40 in 2011 after Michael Collings a contestant on the television show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ sang his rendition. This time the song charted one place higher when reaching Number 4. In 2015 the ‘Dance Music’ producer Jonas Blue released a version of ‘Fast Car’ as his debut single, featuring the vocals of Sophie Elton, better known by her stage name ‘Dakota,’ and this version reached Number 2 in the UK. Another ‘Dance’ version of ‘Fast Car’ this time by the Swedish record producer Tobtok, featuring vocals from the British singer River, found top 40 chart success in five countries, including Poland, where it made Number 15 also in 2015. In 2023 the American Country Music artist Luke Combs released his version, which reached Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also made Number 1 on the ‘Billboard Hot Country Songs’ and ‘Country Airplay’ charts, and won Tracy Chapman the ‘Country Music Association Award’ for ‘Song of the Year,’ making her the first black person to win the award. Tracy Chapman has said, ‘I never expected to find myself on the Country charts, but I’m honoured to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success, and grateful that new fans have found and embraced Fast Car.’

The lyrics to ‘Fat Car’ tell the story of someone trying to escape a life where there is very little prospect of them being able to better themselves, because circumstances are heavily weighted against them. The sting in the tail is that what the narrator is trying to escape, comes around full circle, and history repeats itself, and she ends up back at square one. I personally find myself thinking of the Mac Davis composition, ‘In the Ghetto,’ sung by Elvis Presley, from 1969 (see also best songs 442.)

‘You got a fast car, I got a job that pays all our bills. You stay out drinking late at the bar, see more of your friends than you do of your kids. I’d always hoped for better.’