Tracy Chapman becomes the first Black person to win Song of the Year at the CMAs

Not the point of the thread, but the Luke coombs? Cover of fast car is a fucking abomination. I can't believe it won an award.

Well that was so beautiful it made me teary.

Firstly, she looks amazing. Second, I love her bashful smile when everyone cheers when they realise it’s actually her. Third, Combs seems to be in awe of the fact he’s performing it on stage with her. Finally, it’s just a beautiful performance 🥲.

That was wonderful NotBad. Thank you for posting the link.

I’m just posting this here because everyone should see this. It’s just magical.

https://twitter.com/realbrittain/status/1754316190552375724?s=42&t=QsLZWw4AAriTG0o1SOp6SQ

Love Tracy.

Got the impression she was one of those people with her head screwed on, so quietly made her music, made Ok money, and kept her life away from all the vultures and opportunists who swarm around successful entertainers.

There's so many stars who basically get pumped by greedy management to be cash cows indefinitely.

(think of S Club 7 and Britney or Elvis - making huge amounts of money for others, sent out to have their personal lives ripped to shreds by the media.

Taylor Swift and Beyonce seem to be rock solid with great support and able to make their music when they want, but not true for everyone).

When actually, as soon as they have a bit of success, if they invest it wisely they're set for a nice private life and good for them.

Obviously it would be nice to have more Tracy Chapman songs.

But I like the thought of her just privately chilling and enjoying the royalties coming in.

I'm going to YouTube for the nostalgia now!

That's a misunderstanding of what's happened.

Fast Car was released on the mainstream pop/rock charts. It did very well as did TC, it had a ton of radio play, on pop/rock stations.

She did take a step back from the limelight later on, which is why she's perhaps less known to some younger people. I don't think she ever enjoyed being in the media spotlight.

This cover was done by a country artist, is being played on country radio, and being tracked on the country music charts. The production is similar, but it's false to say it's identical, it's clear it's being marketed to a country music audience.

Which is why it's being recognized at the Country Music awards now. They were hardly likely to give an award to a song that wasn't in any way considered a country music song, why would they?

Yes! I didn't want to list every song I love but all of the above as well. Plus Telling Stories and Born to Fight.

Agreed. Also, Mountains of Things, For My Lover, All That You Have Is Your Soul, and my favourite Be Careful of My Heart.

I'm Ready - 1st time I heard this I burst into tears, everything about it is sheer perfection. Would do literally anything to see Tracy live, wonder if she'll ever tour again?

I've been a fan of Tracy since I was about 8 so happy she's received this award.

Fast Car is great but so is Subcity, Across the Lines, bang bang bang, talking about a revolution and so many more.

I really think she's a living legend.

Just putting this here because it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

You’ve got a good point there @Bobbotgegrinch
Also possibly the fact it’s all colour, production values were good, etc, means the 90s seems less far away than the 50s/60s?
And it’s probably cooler today to have eclectic tastes than it was when you had to choose Duran Duran or Wham, or Blur/ Oasis.

DD is about to turn 16, and see's music from 1993 as old, but not ancient, and will happily listen to (some of) it. Whereas I can't imagine me or my friends being happy listening to anything from 1969 when I was 16.

Different to my experience as a 90s teen. I was into a lot of American alternative music but also loads of stuff from the 60s and 70s. I remember several of my friends being utterly obsessed with The Doors for example.

I do agree with you about the rate of change occurring in popular music having slowed somewhat though.

I had a chat with DD about this a couple of years ago, and I don't think kids see the music of 30 years ago the way we saw the music of 30 years before our time.

DD is about to turn 16, and see's music from 1993 as old, but not ancient, and will happily listen to (some of) it. Whereas I can't imagine me or my friends being happy listening to anything from 1969 when I was 16.

I think "popular" music changed so much between 1955ish and 1990, that anything over a decade old sounded absolutely ancient to my generation. Whereas I think things have slowed down since then, and todays music doesn't sound so different compared to stuff from a decade or two ago.

I went to a gig with DD the other week for a band called Lovejoy, her current favourite. Bunch of 20 year olds, all original songs but it would have sounded perfectly at home during the heyday of The Killers or Arctic Moneys.

I think the famous scene with Marty shredding his guitar in Back to The Future sums it up. 1985 music in 1955 = the crowd being completely bemused.
Release the film today with 2023 music in 1993, and I can't work out how you'd play that scene. Some of the staging might cause raised eyebrows, or maybe the explicitness of the lyrics (Wet Ass Pussy anyone?), but I can't see the sound itself causing any consternation.

Anyway, I'm risking thoroughly derailing this thread so I'll shut up now. Tracy Chapman, awesome, very glad she's been recognised. As you were.

On the teens today 🤣
I remember when I was growing up in the 80s and a load of 60s stuff had a revival, either re released or covered or whatever (The Twist, Dusty with the Pet Shop Boys, even Roy Orbison), it all seemed so OLD to us, great music but from the Land Before We Were Born.
If you go back the same time now, that would be 2003. Not even the 90s.
Yikes.

I enjoyed reading the accounts of seeing Tracey Chapman live. I didn't see her live but definitely remember a time when her music was played a lot. We can still acknowledge that her career goes back many years while also wanting to mark this achievement.

Tracey Chapman never went down the road of being a 'managed' star who compromised on her music and/or her image. Let's be pleased she has had this belated recognition in a field in which black women have been under recognised.

Lots of teenagers barely know who Madonna is. Certainly many 80s & 90s artists who they have no idea of. It was quite some time ago

My 15 yo knows who she is and has had fast car on her Spotify playlist for a couple of years at least.

Kids these days know a lot more about older music than my generation did. We mostly went by what was on the radio whereas they've got Spotify, YouTube etc chucking all kinds of random stuff into their feeds. I've been quite surprised at some of the stuff I'd heard coming out of her bedroom over the years.

Ask a teenager who Tracey Chapman is. Even better, do as I did and okay her original version of Fast Car, and listen to them all saying, "Oh, is that an old song? I thought Luke Coombs wrote that."

What a wonderful memory @IwantToRetire