Best Song Ever: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
A song about staring out with hope and being met with reality
“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. Starting from zero, got nothing to lose. Maybe we'll make something. Me, myself, I got nothing to prove”
Fast Car is having a bit of a moment due to Luke Combs’ cover of it (by far the most popular song on his new album, Gettin’ Old). You may have come to Fast Car via that cover as it blows up. Good for Tracy Chapman, the original singer and songwriter of the song. If you don’t know Tracy Chapman, you should check out her broader catalog. She is a renowned singer-songwriter celebrated for her emotive storytelling. Fast Car is her most popular and my favorite, but I’d also check out the outstanding, "Talkin' Bout a Revolution." With her soulful voice and socially conscious lyrics, she captivates listeners and sparks thought-provoking conversations on issues of poverty and social justice. She’s an amazing artist and I am glad her work is being recognized by a new and younger audience.
Fast Car was released in 1988. It was a pretty big hit at the time. It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for three and won one Grammy. But it didn’t really take to me until the late nineties and early aughts. I was striving and I was striving with someone. And together we were going to get somewhere. I was trying to get out. And I was trying to get out with someone. We were starting at zero. We wanted to move to “the city.” For us that meant to Chicago from small town Iowa. So, the first few lines of the song really hit me. I feel them. I feel like they represent me and really my partner and I. I feel like they were speaking my story of trying to escape, though I hoped for a different outcome. 1 The first verse represent the desperation of someone in a shitty situation and needing to do anything they could to get out of that shitty situation. And they need to get out of. They are going to find someone to help them get out. They are going to create a partnership about getting out of their respective situations. And maybe together they can be something more than they are today. Maybe their situation can be better than what it is today. Together they can do it.
“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. Starting from zero, got nothing to lose. Maybe we'll make something. Me, myself, I got nothing to prove”
I love how they are making a deal. Making a partnership to get out together. They are going to rely on each other. Ones got the fast car and the other has the plans. The fast car here really can be a metaphor for lots of things. The fast car is whatever the opportunity is to get out. For me it was a high flying job. But, it could be anything: a literal car or whatever the vehicle is to get you out of your situation. They are both bringing something to the table. She’s got the logistics taken care of if he can just drive his fast car.
In verse two we get details of her plan to get them out of their situation. She is taking care of all the shit. He just needs to drive his fast car. Keep driving your fast car, because thats the thing that will get them out of there. There is so much hope in this verse. She really sees a better life for them. They will get to experience life. They will have a great life together.
“You got a fast car. I got a plan to get us outta 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 'cross the border and into the city. You and I can both get jobs. Finally see what it means to be living.”
But, her tone betrays her lyrics. Yes, she is singing about hope in the first couple verses. But, her tone is not of one of hope. Her tone one of resignation or radical acceptance that things actually won’t get better. The cycle of poverty continues. She is not singing upbeat. She is sad. She is not full of hope, but the anthesis: she is hopeless. The hopelessness starts with that initial set of cymbal (or is it a high hat) hits and then continues throughout the song with the repeated acoustic guitar hook. That hook is not happy. That hook combined with Tracy’s heavy and sad vocals (it sounds like she is on the verge of tears throughout) really let you know that this initial hope will be met with challenges and disappointments.
In verse three we get details on the situation, specific to this situation the narrator taking care of her single, alcoholic father, who’s wife (and the narrator’s mother) left him because he was miserable to be with. Its not hard to relate to the situation even if you don’t aren’t specifically taking care of an alcoholic single parent. It seems kids in America spend a lot of time attending to their parents physical and emotional needs and sacrificing their own needs for it. I know this is especially prevalent amongst Gen X kids; I suspect it still goes on with children today.
“I said, "Somebody's gotta take care of him" So I quit school and that's what I did.”
But there isn’t the only challenge she’s got to overcome. She’s got a plan for that. She is going to leave her dad to take care of himself. She must or she will continue to suffer. You can’t fix your parents. You have to let them fix themselves.
The refrain and chorus approach anthemic awesomeness. And, as I listen to them today its about when i start to tear up profusely. I have distinct memories of me and my partner driving around and connecting whilst we were in the midst of striving and trying to achieve. I felt so connected in these moments. And Tracy represents that here. She talks about how amazing she feels in that moment. She can achieve her dreams. She can do it because she is with her person.
“You got a fast car. Is it fast enough so we can fly away? We gotta make a decision. Leave tonight or live and die this way.”
I love how she explains the stakes. Either they leave tonight or they are forever stuck in this situation. Now is the time she says. And that’s oftentimes how it is. You need that urgency to get out of your situation. It has to be now or never. The more you wait, the more inertia takes over and you’ll never leave. It must be now.
“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.”
The chorus is just excellent. And its nostalgic. It brings you back that awesome point in time where you hadn’t achieved what you were trying to achieve, but just starting up the mountain when everything seemed possible. Thats what this anthemic chorus captures. It captures the essence of what is possible and all the hope expressed in this song is really expressed in this chorus. And its the point where I tear up as I think of my partner and I together in the early years driving our car around. We were so full of hope that anything and everything was possible. That we could go from nobodies in a small town to something much much bigger. And most importantly, that we were doing this together. Thats what is expressed here. I love how she sings, “and your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder” in my mind it’s capturing the connectedness that they felt in those moments. She doesn’t just feel like can be someone, but she also feels like she belongs. The connectedness and partnership are crucial to the good feelings she has. You can feel her smiling while she sings this part of the song.
In verse four we find things aren’t going quite to her plan. They are going ok. There is some striving and achieving. He still has his fast car. And she has a decent job. But, they are living in a shelter and now they want to move to the suburbs. Again, the lyrics convey some hope, but there is so much resignation in her voice that you know that she is starting to not believe what she is saying.
“I know things will get better. You'll find work and I'll get promoted. We'll move out of the shelter. Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs.”
The intermingling of the chorus with the last couple verses is an excellent choice. By holding onto the chorus for the first three verses, it builds to an anthemic payoff a couple of times at the end. And that hope that is expressed in the chorus is further contrasted with the lack of hope expressed in now both the lyrics and the vocals.
Verse five makes her disappointment clear. Her partner has let her down. He is not living up to his end of the deal. He must go. She is doing everything. He is becoming the alcoholic her father once was.
“You got a fast car. I got a job that pays all our bills. You stay out drinkin' late at the bar. See more of your friends than you do of your kids. I'd always hoped for better. Thought maybe together, you and me'd find it. I got no plans, I ain't going nowhere. So take your fast car and keep on driving.”
The most heartbreaking of the lyrics for me are these:
“I'd always hoped for better. Thought maybe together, you and me'd find it.”
In the end they are faced with the same decision they are faced with upon leaving the negative situation. They are now in another negative situation, this time of their own doing. She needs him to leave. And there is again that urgency that it has to happen now or they will be stuck in the same pattern of unhappiness.
“You got a fast car. Is it fast enough so you can fly away? You gotta make a decision. Leave tonight or live and die this way.”
This is a sad, heavy, nostalgic song that captures the essence of how hard it is to break out of the inertia we’re all in and specifically whatever generational s you’re dealing with. It connects with millions as evidenced by the grammy’s and nearly 700M listens on Spotify (as of 07/2023). Its a classic and you should check it out; if you already know the song, give it another listen and really dig into the heaviness and if you’re new to the song or coming to via country music, then give this classic a listen. I’m sure you’ll feel it.
I am not alone here. In the genius notation Tracy talks of fans sharing their deep connection and relation to the song. Its universal in that regard.