Reply to Tracy Chapman wins CMA “song of the year” for “Fast Car”

Forum Index » Entertainment and Pop Culture

Reply to "Tracy Chapman wins CMA “song of the year” for “Fast Car”"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Chapman’s one album was a huge hit because of that one song. Had she not released Give Me One Reason, she would have been a one hit wonder (albeit a big one).

Her net worth is $8M.

She isn’t the musical genius everyone thinks she is. She made one fabulous song that transcends age and race…and another so-so song that you sometimes hear in the grocery store.

I’m sure she’s thrilled that Combs covered her song and she’s getting money and relevance. [/quote]

If you knew the album, you would also know that there is a song called Mountains o’ Things on it.  It outlines the perils of using things as a marker of significance in life.  Between that song, Fast Car and Talking bout a revolution which was written in response Regan’s portraying black women as welfare queens. It is fairly clear her motives for the entire record far transcend the money she is pulling in.

Shy many not be a musical genius, but her using her musical ability for political commentary is something that most singers don’t have these days. 
Even the song going  from being sung by and about black people to a country song with a majority white listening population is art following politics. More and more whites are feeling unemployed and displaced as our economy shifts to service based industries.  It is still a politically charged song, even in its reuse.[/quote]

I’m Gen X.

I know the album and the political climate at the time.

Talkin Bout a Revolution was played on repeat at the coffee houses back in the day.

It only made it to 75 on the music charts. It wasn’t a hit. Not even close.

And I also remember the backlash Chapman encountered when she bought herself a nice home and a fancy car after making money from the album. She was labeled a sellout and hypocrite. I don’t think that was fair, but it happened…and this was long before social media or TMZ.

What’s she been doing for the last 30 years? Made any great music?

She made one amazing song that transcends race and age. And she made another catchy song. Plus some other songs that were played in coffee houses and venues that hosted poetry slams. That’s not bad. In fact, it’s quite an accomplishment.

But she was never Dylan. I’m not sure she was really trying to be. I applaud her efforts to shine a light on issues in a positive way. I wish others would. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics