4 Tracy Chapman Lyrics That Still Stop Us in Our Tracks

Tracy Chapman has to be one of the best musicians to ever be plucked out of Cleveland, Ohio, and onto mainstream radio. Ever since she made her mark with hits like “Fast Car”, Chapman’s lyrics have lingered in our minds and our hearts. Here are some of the best from her catalog.

“Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”

“Don’t you know / They’re talking about a revolution? / It sounds like a whisper.”

Chapman wrote “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution” while still a high school student in Connecticut. The lyrical content of this one is a bit heavy, but they were lyrics that Chapman herself could relate to well. As she transitioned to boarding school, she was frustrated with the way her peers viewed the working class.

“I found that people at the school didn’t really have that much interest,” she said in a 1986 interview. “I was really angry about that, and that’s where the song ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution’ came from. Meaning that a lot of them thought that. They didn’t think that people’s lives—people who didn’t have money or who were working class—their lives weren’t very significant and they also somehow couldn’t make a change. But I feel that’s where change comes from, that’s where people are in most need.”

“Fast Car”

“And I-I had a feeling that I belonged / I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.”

Chapman completely redefined what it means to have the gift of songwriting running through your veins with this one. “Fast Car” is a song about trying to run away from poverty, finding yourself, and clinging to love. There are so many lyrics in this song that hit home, but the last line of the chorus always gets me.

“Baby Can I Hold You”

“Years gone by and still / Words don’t come easily / Like forgive me, forgive me.”

In “Baby Can I Hold You”, Chapman addresses the irony in a specific relationship. It seems that in this case, one partner has no problem holding the other close, but when it comes to asking for forgiveness, or even expressing their feelings, words fail. In the US, this song made the Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. In other countries, like Brazil and Portugal, it peaked at No. 1.

“Why?”

“Why are the missiles called peacekeepers / When they’re aimed to kill.”

Chapman asks a series of valuable questions in “Why?” and then heeds the warning later in the song: “But somebody’s gonna have to answer / The time is coming soon / When the blind remove their blinders / And the speechless speak the truth.”

Photo by: Lester Cohen/Getty Images

The post 4 Tracy Chapman Lyrics That Still Stop Us in Our Tracks appeared first on American Songwriter.