They’ve got a fast car
Tracy Chapman wrote a song late in the 20th Century
which deserves to endure forever, with a haunting guitar riff
and a plaintive story about the disappointments
that Life can sometimes bring.
It received lots of airplay in the 1980s, a decade known for
uptempo synth dance tunes and catchy saxophone solos
performed by artists who appealed to the eyes of MTV
as much as they did to the ears of radio.
The song spoke to audiences of every age, race, and musical background
because its themes were a stark contrast to the “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
mindset that dominated the airwaves in that era.
In fact, “Fast Car” was nearly its direct antithesis.
The father of a young son in North Carolina
appreciated the song and (as parents sometimes do)
played it in the presence of his young son,
who also kept it inside his heart
while he was making his career as a musician.
He recorded his own version of the song
and released it for the public to hear,
over three decades after the original version,
and it found a new audience
of those who had loved it the first time,
and those who had not even been born yet.
When the two artists appeared onstage together,
for perhaps the only time,
Los Angeles was enduring a storm of epic proportions
but inside the venue, an entirely different phenomenon took place.
The song which she had once created, and he then lovingly re-created,
infused the air (and the airwaves)
with something that can accurately be called magic
And a new generation of the song’s fans were born.
