Like others have said, in that segment where she says that she got a job that paid all their bills, she also says he was staying out all night with his friends with no time for their kids. As it turned out she traded one bad situation, supporting her father, for another, supporting her dead-beat man. At least in the song, she never did get her escape.
It's is kind-of implied by the last line that she told him off and told him to, "Take your fast car and keep on drivin'." Hopefully she found her place, and if it's an autobiographical story, I can't think of a better way to turn that pain around than to turn it into a hit song that millions connect with...It helps them, and it (Hopefully) helps her for not having to deal with that "Paycheck to paycheck" lifestyle...
In some ways, but she did tell him to take his fast car and keep on driving and to make a decision, so I take that to be her taking control of her life and no longer supporting deadbeats.
Her song lyrics went full circle. She found a way out of life with her dead beat Dad, but saddled herself with a dead beat husband, till she told him to take his fast car and keep on driving. He spent more time with his boys at the bar than her and the kids. So she said, I'll stay, you go.
I think the lines after that indicate that this is her thinking of the future and then coming back to the present. She's playing out her decision in her head
@@colorpurple4623That doesn't make it a happy song. What she wants is a way out and she thought she could find it with him. It still hurts that he failed her and she has to start over in what is probably a worse situation than she was in before.
This song is a masterpiece, love how the music changes when she is hopeful, but the moment you first hear it and realise she’s back in the same situation she was trying to escape 😢
Tracy Chapman is a great singer-songwriter & storyteller. Have always loved her unusual voice. She is best known for her hit singles "Talkin' 'bout A Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Crossroads", "Give Me One Reason" etc.
This is the saddest song ive ever heard. The best memory she ever had was feeling like she belonged (she didn't) and that she would be successful (she wasn't) This hits harder the older you get
You kind of missed the message at the end, she is saying he ain't that different from her dad- she is doing all the work and paying all the bills, looking after their kids while he is out drinking with his mates and hardly seeing his kids. She is stuck and he is useless...so take your car and just drive away or you'll live and die this way ( just like her dad)
Hi Sparky 🐶🐾💝 Awesome reaction bruv. Fast Car always takes me places. I used to cry from the lyrics and it’s guitar strumming pains, but lately it’s given me poetry aspirations. This song is just top tier classic. Tracy Chapman is a legend for such a relatable feel of the song. Aloha from Hawaii 🤙🏾🌺🌈
This album was the big hit the year I moved away to college. Heard the whole thing a million times and it is full of heavy, beautiful, moving music. She’s a boss.
I never met Tracy... But I love my black sister. And thank The Lord, for her. And thank you for every tear I have shed while hearing this song. I purchased this album when it was BRAND SPANKING NEW. I cried then, I cry every time I hear it today. Thank you Lord for your words via Tracy.
The tragic thing is, the protagonist (not Tracy herself) repeated her mother's mistake, hooking up with a deadbeat just like her dad, who only used her. She couldn't see him for what he was, because he love-bombed her and made her feel special, probably for the first time in her life. She started out with a plan ("I've got a plan to get us outta here") and the drive to achieve it, but he sapped her hope and strength till it was nearly gone ("I ain't got no plan, I ain't goin' nowhere"). The slight ray of hope at the end is that she's on the verge of finally kicking him out ("take your fast car and keep on driving"/"you gotta make a decision") Instead of running away like her mother and leaving her kids with the deadbeat dad, she stays with the kids and gives him the ultimatum instead. Maybe this way she can pass some of her values on to the children and keep them in school so that they have more of a chance to break the tragic cycle of poverty. Or maybe, once the parasite guy is gone, she can finally save more money and achieve some of her dreams with her kids. Of course that's not in the song, but that's what I'd wish for them with all my heart! ❤
There are some songs that just stand alone. And some performances of those songs are a magical moment that defies genre. A common story described in a unique voice. A beautiful piece of art that sticks with you for life.
She had to ditch her dad, couldn't support him anymore. Found a man for herself, hoped for a better life. She worked, he lived off of her. Same as her father. She told him to get out. It didn't end the way you hoped, or the way she hoped.
Hi Sparky!!!!!!!!! ❤❤❤ SHE got a job and pays all the bills while he stays out all night drinking with his friends, bless her heart she went from the fire to the frying pan and told him to take his fast car and keep on driving 🤣
She used to play in the subways in Harvard Square in Cambridge MA. Such a talent. Imagine going to catch a train and hear such beauty.. Peace. PS I am happy to meet Sparky
Tracy is just amazing. Her voice is comforting and speaks so loud while soft. Just beautiful! She's just really a super songwriter & singer. With so, so many songs. Loved this!
TRACY CHAPMAN IS AN OUTSTANDING ARTIST!!!! SHE HAD MANY HITS, SOME WERE: GIVE ME ONE REASON, BABY CAN I HOLD YOU, TELLING STORIES, AND MANY MORE, SHE IS GREAT! THANKS FOR THE REACTION SHON....
Yes, like others said, she traded one bad situation for another. But she gives the man an ultimatum to improve or leave. I think she gets more confident over the course of the story
lol...she got a job that paid all the bills while he did nothing but party with his friends. She finally got fed up and told him to hit the road and keep on driving. But you're right...she'll be okay. Him, not so much. I'm liking your channel man.
i think you are missing the point of the ending. while she is working hard to get this life, he doesn't ever get a job and pretty much becomes a drunk like her father. so she tells him to bounce cuz she doesn't have any plans anymore. she made a stable life (not counting the guy) that she wanted for her and her kids. that was her goal. Instead of her leaving like her mother did, she has roots now with her kids and tells him to leave. all he ever had was his fast car. that's why she mentions it every verse. while she improves, all he has is his car.
I'm glad you enjoyed listening to Tracy Chapman. I've always enjoyed her unique vocal style and her choice of topics have sometimes been controversial because a lot of her songs addresses topics such as racism and violence against women. Here's another suggestion "Tracy Chapman - Change (Official Music Video)" Nice reaction, thanks for sharing
You totally missed the point of "I got a job that pays all our bills"; nothing to celebrate there. He is a parasite stealing her dream of a better life. "Take your fast car and keep on driving" means "hit the bricks you bum". The only happy ending would come when he left, which is never clearly stated. Otherwise, a good reaction, I recommend listening to the song a few more times. Cute dog!
Glad to meet Sparky… and during your reaction to one of my favorite songs. You probably didn't quite get the overwhelming happy ending you were looking for but the song isn't really about that. It's about the hopes & dreams of a person whom the odds are stacked against, and that's uplifting in its own right.
Tracy Chapman and Melissa Ethridge came up at the time. I can’t think of one of them without thinking of the other. Played them both so often I wore down the record.
One interpretation of the song is that it spans a period -from the time that the girl quits school to take care of her father to the time that she is in a situation similar to her mother's situation- a probable alcoholic and a non-working spouse, and children in the picture. The difference in the situations is that the young woman wants to stay with her spouse, but she wants him to leave with her. The assumption is that the children will also go with them. The other interpretation is more complex because it merges the past, present and future. One reference to the fast car is a reference to her father's fast car that he drove fast to the point that she, as a youngster, had become lightheaded. Her father could have had his arm around her if people were jammed together in the car. In this case, the fast car was associated with happy memories, and that's why she quit school to help her father because she remembered the better days when her father provided for the family. She and her father could have lived in the shelter; because as a teenager, she probably didn't earn enough money to afford rent. She and her father stayed in their situation, and he died. There is a concept called "the cycle of poverty". The song shows how the cycle can repeat in the next generation- the symbolism of the fast car, alcoholism, unemployment, unstable environment for children, etc. The message is deep. The unknown elements are about the mother's decision, if the girl was a minor at the time, to leave without her daughter, and the possible presence of siblings. The cited choices are still the same, leave or "stay and die this way."
One of our two songs, married going on 43 years...leaving Insane Diego California... the 80's in a fast car...Tracy Chapman! This whole album awesome, Shes Got A Ticket, Across The Lines, Last Night, Give Me One Reason... it's all good! Our other song is Meatloafs Paradise by the Dashboard Light, haha!
Came out in the late 80ies IIRC, it was a good time for music of this style. Billy Bragg, Luka Bloom, Michelle Shocked, Suzanne Vega, Kirsty MacCall... Even bands like Timbuk 3 could loosly be lumped together with the genre. Parts of me wants to get a time machine and go back
For another artist from this period that had a song that hit super hard but also left that space for the instruments and lyrics, check out Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety
"I want a happy ending to this song where she is happy and prosperous!" Oops. Generational cycle of poverty is so hard to escape from. She ended up marrying a guy just like her father, who only wanted to drink in bars etc.
Tracy Chapman is an amazing singer she’s on my playlist for sure. Her other too song was called “Give me One Reason” I’m not sure if you’ve heard that one yet, I’m new to your channel. Great song 🎶
Incredible song. If you want a soulful Canadian version, you can check our Amanda Marshall. If I Didn’t Have You, Fall From Grace and Believe In You are powerhouse vocal performances. She’s half black - her mom is from Trinidad. She’s so underrated, but she hasn’t done anything for 20 years because her record company screwed her. In the late 90s and early 2000s her raspy songs were everywhere. Incredible singer.
Tracy Chapman is a rare, enlightened soul. She had something to give that rarely comes along amongst people. Most of us chase whatever feels good. She did the same, but the only thing that felt good to her was to give something for other people to live for. Let's not waste it, yeah?
Sadly it doesn't have a good ending. She ends up working to pay all the bills, he's out drinking ignoring his kids, and in the end she tells him to clear off, 'Take your fast car and keep on driving': 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 Thought maybe together you and me'd find it I got no plans, I ain't going nowhere Take your fast car and keep on driving
I never felt like her mom left her. I feel her mom tried to take her but she said she decided to stay because she didn’t want to leave him alone. Her mom tried to show her a better life but she had to learn the hard way. She realized in abut 2 years that she made a mistake but because she stayed she didn’t know any better and got with the first guy who payed her attention. That’s why she ended up in the same situation.
Wanna hear something kinda weird and funny? 😊 One day I was watching one of the few reactors that I really enjoy, and while I'm watching, I scroll down to see what else they may react to next, and BAM!! There you were and immediately I said to myself, what a happy, enthusiastic smile this young man has, and at the same time, also seen that you were reacting to a song, (sorry can't remember the one right at this moment), but it was one I really liked and decided to go ahead and watch your reaction to it. I love a soul that's just happy about everything, great outgoing personality, easy going spirit. I absolutely love seeing especially young people, that shines everywhere they go. At present, I only know one other human that's got a wonderful spirit, and that's my 22 yr old grandson, I find in today's world it's rather shocking to see something that this world is definitely lacking, "HEART!" Anyhow, I've come across your channel many times and have watched your reactions. Well this evening there you were again, but this time I decided not only to stop and watch BUT YEP-- ((I SUBSCRIBED))😮....😅....I hope your channel grows quickly, it's definitely not easy, and I've seen some that I've watched for years just up and never see them anymore. It happens I suppose, I get attached, then I'm like where'd so & so go? 😢. There's a lot of crap utubers have to put up with, trolls being a horrible one! Please don't allow them to discourage you, because these idiots are miserable in their own lives, they love nothing more than to hurt others. Misery loves company...I seen many utubers that those creeps tried to shut down, once they got no feedback, moved on.🎉🎉🎉🎉
Song is beautiful. And breaks me every time a little bit that she traded a crap situation with her dad with a new crap situation where her man stays out all the time drinking and ignores the kids. It wasn't an escape, and that's so sad to me.
