Music, for me, is like air. I truly can’t imagine living on this earth without music. Music is universal. Like a smile. I married a talented musician. I love so many different songs from different genres and eras. I think music is an excellent, cathartic way for us as humans to release feelings and communicate emotions or concepts to others who listen in. Maybe we reach others through music…maybe we don’t. But isn’t that always the challenge? Do we ever know if someone is really going to engage, internalize, and process or will they merely passively listen without giving the intended message any reflection or thought? Even in face-to-face speech, we enter into communication hoping that our intent and message gets across and someone actually internalizes and engages, but there is that chance that they will passively listen and not really give attention or care to the message we hope to get across.
Tracey Chapman’s song, Fast Car, is a great example of how music can communicate and represent feelings through the original lyrics and music. It also can be successful in pulling a listener in and communicating meaningful content. The cover of the song by Luke Combs, however, puts a different face to this great song. Luke Combs' version tends to lend itself to pop and country listeners. For some reason, it invokes more passive listening, in my opinion.
The original version by Tracey Chapman puts a “real” face to the reality of what the song is about - living in poverty, in a homeless shelter, trying to make ends meet, trying to fill in for an alcoholic Dad who was loving but incapable of caring for his family, and...trying to find a way out.
The original by Tracey Chapman tells a heartfelt story. This is the essence of folk songs. Real folks living through real hard situations. It is like someone is reading me a story that I want to listen to and care about. It has a release pattern where the deliverer is releasing emotion and telling the downside of the story in a slower tempo. Then, the release pattern suddenly becomes more intense and the rate speeds up to convey excitement, hope, yet the sense of desperation remains, only to culminate in a slower rate that clues listeners into the reality of the hopelessness of the situation at hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOAlaACuv4
In Sellnow’s The Illusion of Life perspective, we learn of how the paralanguage and nonverbal vocal cues (the pitch, volume, rate) integrated into the words help us feel the emotion of a song. The original of Fast Car invokes a lot of emotion in me. Can you not feel the angst, the desperation, the longing for hope to get out of the shelter and find a better life? Even the nonverbal cues in the associated video - the darkness as dark as Tracey’s skin, the day’s light (you see little sunshine), the clothes hanging on a line to dry outdoors, communicates the desperation and utter despair.
Conversely, Luke Combs' cover of the song does not move me in the same way as Tracey Chapman’s original version does. It is nice, easy, passive listening, and enjoyable. But it does not provoke the same emotion in me. In the associated video, for example, you hear crowds roaring, you see all the people in the stadium, it is about appealing to the masses. You feel the essence of popular culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr7oYjnt3bM
This is the beauty of music. An original song and a cover can bring different social groups together. One song, through an original and remake, can appeal to a wider audience.
Lastly, it is worth noting that the original artist, Tracey Chapman, is African American, and she also is known as being bisexual or gay. Luke Combs, on the other hand, is white and about as redneck and straight as they come. Why did it take Luke Combs making the cover of this meaningful, soulful folk song to bring it into the light and get it noticed?
I think that the reason why this song became widely meaningful now is because of the messenger. Just like you pointed out, Tracey Chapman is a Black LBGTQ woman. Because of the "box" that Tracey is put in, she is easily overlooked - especially in the white dominant country music scene. In the 80's when Tracy's version came out, country music was very influenced by radio plays - and Tracy's song was not on the priority list to play. Today, with Luke Comb's version, this brought a new generation to fall in love with the lyrics and song because of who was singing it. Luke was able to give Tracey her moment and finally take credit for a song people loved for so long.
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