Fast Car

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“Fast Car”

Single by Tracy Chapman
from the album Tracy Chapman

B-side

"For You"

Released

June 1988

Format

7", 12"

Recorded

1987

Genre

Rock/Acoustic Rock/Contemporary Folk

Length

4:56

Tracy Chapman singles chronology

"Fast Car"
(1988)

"Talkin' 'bout a Revolution"
(1988)

"Fast Car" is a Grammy-winning song by the American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released on her self-titled 1988 debut Tracy Chapman. Her appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was the catalyst for the song becoming a Top 5 hit in the US, peaking at #5 on the Hot 100, and a top 10 hit the UK, reaching #6 on the UK chart. The song was nominated for several Grammies including the Grammy for "Song Of The Year" and "Record Of The Year". The song won a Grammy for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance".

1 Lyrics
2 Chart performance
3 Cover versions
4 References

[edit] Lyrics

The song is a complex narrative tale of generational poverty. The song's narrator tells the story of her hard life, which began when her mother divorced her jobless, alcoholic father, and the narrator quit school to care for him. Eventually, she decides to leave her hometown with her boyfriend in hopes of making a better life for themselves. Despite her obtaining employment at a grocery store, she falls victim to the cycle of poverty, as her life begins to mirror her mother's; her boyfriend remains largely unemployed and becomes a heavy drinker who spends more nights drinking with his friends than he does with her and their children. Eventually, after getting a job making enough money to cover the expenses of raising a family, she recognizes that though she had wished for a better life, she will have to make the best of her current situation, and tells him to "take your fast car and keep on driving."

[edit] Chart performance

Rolling Stone ranked the song #165 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is Chapman's only song on the list and one of top ten songs of the 1980s.

Country	Peak position
The Netherlands^[1]	1
Swedish Singles Chart	9
United Kingdom	5
United States	6

[edit] Cover versions

The song has been covered many times by bands such as R.E.M., The Flying Pickets, Hundred Reasons, Xiu Xiu, Vertical Horizon, Even Nine, Darwin's Waiting Room, Jesse James, The Love Project, Amazing Transparent Man, Matchbox Twenty, The Wilkinsons and by solo singers Kristian Leontiou, Wayne Wonder, David Usher, Mutya Buena and Hitomi Yaida. It was also sampled by the rap group Nice & Smooth in their hit song "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow", making it a hit within the hip hop community as well.

In 1991, British soul singer Gabrielle recorded a demo of her song "Dreams" which featured a sample of "Fast Car". When it was released commercially in 1993 the sample of "Fast Car" was removed because of legal issues, but the version with the sample was still being played in nightclubs and DJ sets. Los Angeles based turntablist DJ Quixotic is known to perform a cover of this song by manipulating a tone record on a turntable to imitate the notes of the opening guitar riffs. English grime collective Street Politiks also sampled "Fast Car" on their single also called "Fast Car".

Awards
Preceded by Whitney Houston for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"	Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance 1989 for "Fast Car"	Succeeded by Bonnie Raitt for "Nick of time"