You're being unfair picking on her. Her voice is different but clearly a talented folk singer. If you want weird voices try Buffy St. Marie, Bob Dylan, Axel Rose, Lee Marvin etc. all distinct all worth listening to.
How much of a song can you take in on one listen? Singles used to come out, the Lp came out, and you played them over and over. Then maybe there's another single, another album, perhaps not. The singer is a girl, she tells her story, her job changes, he gets a job finally, kids come along and life goes on. Our narrator is dissatisfied. Her man is an alcoholic like the father she sacrificed her education for, she herself feels like she's drunk, there's a lot packed into the lyric. I don't think Tracy Chapmen ever made a better album than the one this song is on. The story in Tracy Chapman's "For My Lover" is more pleasant for me to contemplate. There are many car songs in the annals of Rock and Roll. "Road Runner" by Jonathan Richman, "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, "Deadman's Curve" by Jan and Dean or whoever.
Come on guys, shape up. Now was NOT the time to switch roles. Brad, you should be in your element here, this is all about the words, the pathos, the story…… Get over the fact that this is sung by a woman with a superb deep voice, and listen to the tale she tells. This is profound class.
The song is about the cycle of poverty and just how hard it is to escape the cycle of poverty. I think it's intended to be both uplifting and deeply sad.
Agree. Very sad as it also highlights the cycle of the behavior that is stereotypical of the impoverished, which I guess could be argued as the same thing?
I don’t think it’s about poverty so much as it is about young people seeing a path of life laid out before then that they don’t want but will most likely take… The moment when a young person sees how hard life is being an adult
😭 I'm probably going to catch grief for saying this but it's how I feel.. This song is so iconic and so beloved that y'all's reaction kind of ruined the vibe it's meant to have. You worried more about her her voice and if she was a girl or a guy that you missed the beauty of Tracy's masterpiece and her beautiful story. I hope you listen to it again without the "ha ha" mindset. 🎧🎤✌
Complete and utter failure by both of you for missing the sadness and meaning in this song. It's an absolutely beautiful and sad song, but that was totally lost on you. You can't see the forest for all the trees in the way.
So what. Perception is in the eye of the beholder. They cover MANY SONGS a month and it's difficult to pinpoint what the true meaning is on their first take.
I absolutely adore you two but this reaction hurt my heart a little. This song made people face homelessness and poverty when it was so easily ignored.
Which is fitting, because after hearing this song thousands of times in the last 33 years, I have yet been able to make it through the entire song without tearing up. It's a masterpiece.
This song is really brilliantly constructed. The song is about a woman stuck in the cycle of poverty, unable to escape to a better life, and the instruments reflect that. In the verses, when she's talking about being stuck and unable to escape, the guitar just plays the exact same simple riff over and over and over again. The riff isn't going anywhere, it's just repeating the same pattern, just like her. The only time the music changes, when it kicks up into the bigger, happier sound is when she's remembering what it was like to go driving in the guy's fast car, back when they were younger and she still had dreams of escaping her small, poor life and becoming someone. Back when she still felt free and like there was a brighter future ahead. But then the song keeps dropping back into that simple, repetitive riff as we time jump forward and they're still stuck. And he's not helping. She's inadvertently ended up with someone just like her father: a drunk who doesn't work, a guy whom she has to take care of because he's not even trying. Also, at the beginning of the song, when she still has hope, she tells the guy that they need to make a decision: "we can leave tonight or live and die this way." Basically saying we need to get out of this dead-end life and find something better or we'll die never having gone anywhere or done anything. By the end of the song, she's just telling the guy "YOU need to make a decision / leave tonight or live and die this way" because she's given up hope that she'll ever escape to something better. She's giving him the option to go but she's accepted her fate that she's never going anywhere. And the song ends with that same repetitive riff because she's still stuck in that life, forever. It really is a gorgeous, heartbreaking song that is genius in its construction, beginning to end. I'm sad that you both got so caught up in giggling at and trying to figure out the tone of her voice that you basically ignored the song and missed everything that makes it such a genius piece of art. I usually enjoy watching y'all but this time I'm honestly disappointed in the reaction.
ngl I kind of felt the same, but also I guess that's on me. I really like this song and the message, and I want anyone who hears it to appreciate it the same way, but that's not really realistic to expect everyone to be moved by and value the same things. Reaction channels have built up a sort of culture for their reactions that doesn't easily lend itself to introspection or being moved by a song, just moving through a list, liked it or didn't like it, next, next, next. IDK, hopefully they or other people hearing it for the first time give it some more spins and the story sinks in. I don't think I fully appreciated this song the first time I heard it, of course I was a teenager heh.
My favorite part is the shifting meaning of the phrase "I had a feeling I could be someone", in each verse it takes on a different color of emotion, just like the phrase "you got a fast car". Much more emphasized in a live performance.
I agree. Great description. This song always pulls at my heart, to this very day. Tracy Chapman is amazing. Incredible voice and lyricist and the pain in her voice in this song is profound. Definitely disappointed in this reaction because I love her so much. The entire album with this song is amazing.
You should pay attention to her lyrics both of this but also all of her songs. They are beautiful and full of meanings. Fast car always gave me the feeling of dreaming of getting out of poor and bad life situation, young dreams, maybe not too realistic but that keep you going and not thinking at your misery. Sad enough it didn't come true like it doesn't come true for most of people. Everybody highlight the "American dream" but I love the fact of writing a song of the impossible dream.
Normally I'm not one to pay attention to lyrics whatsoever, especially for songs from my era in the 60's,70 and 80's, but there are a few songs exactly like this that cry out and please listen to what I have to say. This is one of those songs. On the other side of the coin, I have rarely learned the words to any songs. In fact most of my group back in the day made up some of the words when we did want to sing along. We mostly knew the catchy parts. Today it's the opposite it seems. Lex is the exception that one reason she reminds me of people I grew up with. I assume she gets it from her mom. Not to be offended. It's not about disrespecting or not paying attention intentionally. It's just a different way of hearing music some of us have. Brad usually dissects lyrics and tbh, that kinda drives me nuts. That's my side of the coin.
I've finally had it with this channel their lack of understanding of this song goes way beyond a joke and the mocking of her voice, well Tracy Chapman has more talent in her strumming hand than these two will ever have
This is way too good a song to have this poor a review. One of the best written and most emotional songs from the 80’s and you guys missed it. Felt like guys were just looking at this review as “on to the next one..”
I remember buying this cd back in the 80's cause of the song 'Baby can I hold you tonight' and i got to admit that when i heard fast car for the first time which, was near the start of the cd....I wasn't blown away by it. I really wanted to hear the song i bought the cd for. But, after listening to the album a few more times, this song just absolutely grows on you and it's my favourite and the only one i really listen to after all these years. An absolute masterpiece
She has emotion in her voice. It’s a song about trying to change her circumstances, if not now maybe it will be never. It’s a powerful song in my opinion.
Wow...one of the most profound songs to hit the radio waves...and Brad misses it!!!! We can usually depend upon Brad to get the meaning of the lyrics. Bummer! The "fast car" is a metaphor for dreams & hopes. The story starts when she is a teenager. She quits school to take care of her worthless dad. Then, she turns to her boyfriend & asks him to take her away. But, her boyfriend is as worthless as her dad. She takes care of him. She takes care of the kids. Poverty follows her. Her dreams are empty.
@@sikksotoo Lex was a bit charming right away, but it got old fast. She's always trying to compare something to another and it drives me nuts. It's not funny or cute anymore.
One of the most painful songs ever written. Heartbreaking 💔 Edit. A beautiful human who could be far more being dragged down by others. But loyalty is more important than personal achievements. Heartbreaking 💔
[Everyone]: "Such a powerful critique on the cycle of generational poverty, trapping people to relive the lives of their parents in abusive relationships" [Brad & Lex]: "It was a vibe with a yodelling voice."
I was staying in a homeless veterans living facility, they had a dinner for us and Tracy Chapmans mother sang for us… beautiful voice and a beautiful person I wish gods love upon her
@THE ACOUSTIC CAGE see I have more confidence in god, I give gif more credit than u do! I don’t think god would be so PETTY as to be offended by such trivial things ….. but now god knows what u think
Great song. Lex is a beautiful young lady but sometimes she says way too much.missed.a great song.Because she didn't think her voice was effeminate. Shallow.. Disappointed.
Ya sometimes you guys just don't seem to get it, I mean the lyrics were right there, how could you not know what it's about ? This is such a sad song, some of the comments have explained it well enough, about being trapped in the cycle of poverty & alcoholism, and of having hope that things can get better.
The comment below (by Cate) is correct to say that the song is about how hard it is to escape the cycle of poverty. Equally, it's about a lady finding herself in a repeating cycle of negative relationships. The lady in the lyrics was trapped, looking after her alcoholic father and left that situation only to find herself as the sole breadwinner for her family with an alcoholic husband. A tragic story of dreams being crushed by reality.
Simple story but it went right over their heads. For a couple living in a trailer part you'd think they'd understand the story rather than prattle on about who Tracy sounds like or whether she' s a man or woman. The story tells us how easy it is leave one loser with a similar loser who happens to have the means of escape. Then the new boss becomes the same as the old boss.
Fast Car is a metaphor/euphemism for living recklessly and/or in the moment and the juxtaposition of how living recklessly makes you feel alive in the moment (“I had a feeling I could be someone”), but you’re also sacrificing your future for the present (“leave tonight or live and die this way”). This was arguably the most relatable song of the masses when it came out because the lyrics can be imposed on anyone’s life when the metaphor is understood. That’s why she used to get comments all the time from fan’s saying to her they felt like this song was written for them personally. There is also a class element to the song because of the menial jobs, alcoholism/addiction, and other things she uses to illustrate the things going on. That’s because she grew up in working class Cleveland and it’s what she saw-people trying to survive, trying to balance getting ahead in life with enjoying life, and then realizing that you eventually make decisions in which your pursuit of gratification and pleasure cost you the ability to get ahead in life if you aren’t careful. And how you realize it often times when it’s too late because life in and of itself is also a “fast car.”
I never thought of the car as a metaphor. I always thought it was literal and maybe the only thing in her life that really brought her happiness was going for rides in her dad's car.
Also, there are references to when two people have different priorities for their lives, and to what it's like when your life becomes a circle in which you seem to be stuck.
I agree James. I'm kinda bummed that Lex & Brad didn't really get the poignant meaning about the cycle of poverty. It's sad that even with dreams of a better life sometimes people seem destined to stay on an endless treadmill.
This is one of the most hopeful, sad, and overall soulful songs I ever heard. I was a fan when it came out. It still brings a tear to me eye lol. Look at where she's at in this, her feelings, her aspirations. Real blues.
This song's about the cycle of poverty, and how hard it is to break. Her father is a drunk, and she puts her future on hold so she can take care of him. But then she meets this guy, and sees an opportunity to run off with him and have a real future. Fast forward, he ends up being a drunk like her father and she leaves like her mother did to again try and escape from her shitty situation. It's a sad song, but she delivers it so beautifully that you really feel it.
Please listen to this masterpiece again so you can focus on the story Tracy is telling you and hear the music. When the tempo goes up it reflects the speed of the "fast car" and captures that feeling, that expectation, that hope that you can become something larger than your circumstances, that maybe your dreams will come true despite your limitations, responsibilities and problems. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and she is an awesome singer and artist.
Tracy Chapman was a homeless street performer in Boston back in the day, she would work the subways, street corners and the like, she was discovered near the Boston Garden by a music producer who threw a 100 dollar bill in her case and his business card.
I remember when Tracy Chapman hit. The Queen of Folk was Joni Mitchell and the New(ish) Kid was Suzanne Vega. Chapman hit the scene and claimed her space on the folkie stage with her powerful lyrics and her distinctive voice and musical style. She introduced a rawness that had been missing, no disrespect to Joni or to Ms. Vega. I’m not sure Folk is the most accurate label-let’s call her a brilliant singer-songwriter and leave it at that.
This song is profound, heartbreaking. Kind of surprised to see you guys laugh and giggle throughout. ***** edit***** you know, I'm a 74 year old conservative white male and have never been able to listen to this song without a catch in my throat. I cannot fu#*ing believe you two acted like you did. I am now unsubscribing from your channel.
Tracy Chapman is one of the greatest American songwriters alive. She is overlooked because she is semi-retired. Her best album, in my opinion, is New Beginnings. Best song is definitely At This Point in My Life. She has that great deep vibrato voice. A master story teller. She wrote this song in her early 20s. She has always been an old soul.
This song reminds me of my parents, met in highschool rural Kansas both with family trauma and moved themselves and us kids to CA. I was the only one to finish college and became a therapist. I'd say they were successful but it's a generational kind of progress.
One of the few times I want Brad to focus like a laser on the lyrics and he decides to flake on them in favor of listening to see if Tracy sounds like Dolores--whoever the hell Dolores is. Missed opportunity, brother. As for you, Lex, you are a hoot and a half. Having said that, I wish you hadn't distracted Brad from the poignant story being told.
They're thinking about Dolores O'Riordan, RIP, who was the singer in Cranberries. They sound nothing alike though, and a real shame it took their entire focus away from one of the great songs of the 80s.
Lex is talking about vibrato and mixing it up with what vocal style Irish singers do. If you want the queens of vibrato, you have to listen to some Pretenders. Chrissy Hynes masters it.
I am guessing you guys don't read books that don't have pictures... How the f*** can you not understand the song. You literally had the lyrics Infront of you. 1 of the top 10 songs of the last 50 years and you guys concentrate on comparing rather than listening. Seriously guys why bother...
Brad & Lex, Paving the way for Tracy was Joan Armatrading. You'll love Joan's "Love And Affection", "Willow", "Me Myself I" and many others. "Love And Affection" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oag3I4VRXyM.html . They both sing, play guitar and have the deeper 'contralto' female voice.
Listen to the words. Its about the words. About trying to escape poverty with your high school love, filled with ambition you run to the city, but fail to make it. You then look back at that ambition with sorrow at the failure of opportunity.
This song has a completely different affect on me than most. For some reason when I hear these lyrics I think about my dad. It's been 3 months since he passed (he committed suicide) and I feel this song goes with his life so well. He always strived for better but lived in a life full of pain and addiction. He was physically disabled at a young age and I always felt like life with him was driving in that fast car, trying to find that better life but always running into more and more obstacles. In the end I know that he always wished for more for all of us, but we didn't need it, we just needed him to be there. This song reaches something else in me and this is the first time I've listened to it since he passed. You guys rock, keep doing what you're doing
I just like the fact they cover so many songs I like. Lex is funny and cute. As far as reactions I think they are the worst reactors I've ever heard. Brad never knows what the song is truly about even though he's usually reading the lyrics and lex just liked the beats 90% of the time. Nothing Else.
Story mode was needed for this one. The lyrics where definitely a important one to listen to in this song. Great song. Needed a lyrical break down review. Definitely a wrong time to switch roles 😂😂 in a Tracy chapman song! lol
I think I remember Tracy Chapman was on stage for Live Aid together with all those giant rock bands singing her songs with just her guitar and microphone . It was an iconic set no one forgot her song
Are you F#$@ing kidding me?! He can't listen to her voice AND read the lyrics at the same time??!! Unbelievable, after all this time and reactions, still clueless. If you are reading the lyrics, how are you not moved and sucked into her emotional story?! I don't get the purpose of focusing on the lyrics when you mostly miss the point of them!!!
Sorry Lex, I've fallen in love with your enthusiasm but your reaction to this song is pitiful. For once you need to react to the lyrics. This recording is the very definition of wistful resignation. Tracy's voice and the sparse backing fit beautifully. Her description of a situation so many girls/women find themselves in is masterful.
I was in Middle School when this came out. My mom was just divorcing my dad because of his drug problem, inability to hold a job, and abuse to us all because he couldn’t deal with his own failures. So this song resonated very hard with her (and me), and it still hits me hard to this day. You should hear her song “Gimme One Reason”, it’s a blues banger, completely different vibe from this one.
Zac, I know your struggle. If you want another relatable one about going through that, try Jason Isbell's Dreamsicle. Another one that'll hit you in the feels.
I normally enjoy your reactions but you both blew this one. Powerful emotion, powerful message, powerful impact ... look at all the comments ... you misfired on this one.
Brad & Lex, not only does Tracy Chapman have a fantastic Alto voice, she is also the queen of lower register vibrato - that's the 'wavering-Delores' you're interpreting. This song tells the story of two young people - one in particular, wishing to run away from the harsh life & alcoholic dependent Father - & escape to the city (where they consider that the streets are paved with gold & ambition) - but as is often the case, their destitution re-establishes itself at this new location. A cyclical, inescapable, life-long struggle.
This is a great song. It's a sad song about a woman who has a dream and is willing (and able) to work hard to make that dream come true. Unfortunately she makes the mistake of falling for a man who has no dream. He has a fast car but no cares. We watch as her dream slowly falls apart until she realises it's time to step out of his fast car to nowhere and start again. It was interesting (and a little infuriating) to watch you miss the poignant story as you focussed on Tracy's voice and vibrato. I felt sure that Brad was listening to the lyrics and Lex's attention was derailed by the voice. And then I find that Lex HAS been listening to the story and Brad's attention was focussed on the voice.
I think you missed a big part (not all) of the point of the song. Her partner isn't a man. Hence the line about leaving the shelter (women's) and her earning enough for them both to live on. Tracy is gay. Although she's really guarded about her private life, former female partners have confirmed it. That said, it makes the song even more poignant because when it was written very few songs were being written about the subject and getting air time.
@@kimn9802 So she and she adopted kids, is that how the song goes? you got a fast car I got a job that pays all our bills You stay out drinking late at the bar See more of your friends than you do of your kids I'd always hoped for better
So when she says "We'll move out of the shelter..." a man is in the shelter with her? There are no shelters that take men or male/female couples. Also, a woman can have custody of kids from a previous relationship and go into a lesbian relationship. Happens all the time. Who says women can't stay out drinking and neglect children? Not an exclusively male behaviour.
The song seems like a song about the REAL “American dream” not the one we’re sold: that you can have anything if you work hard enough. But life isn’t so simple. We struggle, we fail, and the cycles of struggle and dysfunction in families and relationships just keep repeating themselves. This message is profound and still so relevant.
There's a really cool story behind this song. I forget the details but I believe it was a concert at Wimberley in 1988 where she was one of the performers in a decent lineup that included Stevie Wonder. Apparently somebody lost Stevie's prerecorded background music or something like that and he got really upset and left. The organizers went around frantically looking for someone to fill the slot and when Tracy heard this she agreed to go back on stage. This was before she had made her name big in the music industry having only released I believe one album so far. She had been working on this song for a while but hadn't played it for anyone yet but she decided to give it a shot and as she began playing and singing the crowd got quiet and at the end everybody cheered. There's a video of it, it's pretty cool. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-teZsA_ci-7E.html I suggest the next song of hers that you react to should be "At This Point In My Life" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eRBzThST8hE.html
@@jamesdavisjr6937 I gotta give credit for even knowing this story to The Professor of Rock, he covered this story on his channel. I highly recommend anyone who loves music to check his channel out, he's very knowledgeable about all generas of music from between the 1950's to the early 2000's. Here's a link to his channel: ru-vid.com
The song had already been released as a single about 2 months before when she appeared at Wembley (Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert on 11 June 1988) but hadn't done too well. It had just charted the week before the concert at number 88 in the UK, but this concert pushed it up the charts, to eventually peak at number 5 in the UK (and number 6 in US). I remember the concert, I was 20 at the time, and I think that was probably the first time I heard the song (although I probably heard it almost every day for the next few months!), but didn't know about the Stevie Wonder thing. Apparently some of his equipment 'went missing' and he returned later and played using Whitney Houston's instruments.
@@davidjames3080 You're right, I was a little off about the release. I decided to actually look it up to be sure and from what I can find Stevie Wonder had lost a prerecorded disk of synthesized music for his set and he left the stadium crying with some of his entourage. It didn't say whether or not he returned but it'd be kinda messed up if he didn't.
Very sad song. I can relate to this, as I was my mother's caregiver for 8 years, when she had Alzheimer's/ Dementia. It tears your heart out to watch a loved one deteriorate in front of your eyes. I'd do it again, because she's my mother. God Bless
I typically, genuinely enjoy you two and Lex esp how often you’re on point/ tuned in to enjoying the music.. Brad with the lyrics painting such a clear story many of us are surprised you ‘totally missed’ the meaning this time! Lex, she was Not kicking him out. This was a young woman whose mother left the situation creating the circumstances where she was the only one left to try to take care of her father.. (who had a drinking problem) She was dreaming of a better life wanting to escape and the boyfriend (gf) fast car was likely both a reality as well as a symbolism of opportunity for them to leave, find out what their lives ‘could be’ instead of stuck living/ taking care of an ‘absent’ parent.. please listen again having read the replies shared here..🤷♀️😉👍🙏
Please try more of Tracy, she has a unique voice...and is such a talented songwriter and singer. So many GREAT songs of hers did not get the recognition they deserved, just as she in my opinion does not get the attention and praise that she deserves. A few of her songs you should listen to are "Give me a reason" / " Talkin' bout a revolution" / "Cold Feet" / "At this point in my life" / "Smoke and Ashes"....just please try a few of those and you will be pleased I am sure !! Love your reactions and just your honest approach to each artist and song you are discovering.
I honestly think you guys would love and appreciate the song better if you viewed a video of Tracy Chapman performing her song Fast Car live and in concert while she's playing the guitar.
