Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman
In the Spring of 1988, I walked into my favorite record store at the time, Dave Biljan’s The Flip Side, in St. Paul, across from St. Kate’s. I loved the shop because it had a great selection of quality used records, reasonable prices, and Dave was a rarity in a record store – a friendly and unpretentious guy. Many who work in record shops are aloof.
On this particular day, I asked Dave, “What’s new?” And he immediately pulled a promo copy* of Tracy Chapman’s debut and insisted that I buy it. I had no idea what it was, but I trusted Dave. When I brought it home and dropped the needle, I was blown away. Dave never led me astray.
Within a month, I saw that Tracy Chapman was playing at First Avenue/7 Street Entry. My memory is foggy, but I think she played solo at the Entry, not the Main Room (I could only verify that she did play at one of the venues on Friday, May 06, 1988).
Tracy Chapman’s debut album was a critical and commercial success. It was certified 6× platinum (that is, 6 million copies) by the Recording Industry Association of America. It received six Grammy Award nominations (1989), including one for Album of the Year, three of which she won: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single “Fast Car,” and Best Contemporary Folk Album.
The song “Fast Car” experienced a recent resurgence with country star Luke Combs’ cover, which became a number-one single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts in 2023. This achievement earned Chapman the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year, making her the first black person to win the award. Chapman had a viral moment in 2024 when she performed the song with Combs at the Grammys.
(Credit: Getty Images)
The album’s folk-rock music style, political lyrics, queer, and soul-searching themes really stood out in the late 80s – a period dominated by glam metal, the rise of electronic genres like techno and house music, the “golden age of hip hop” with artists like Run-D.M.C., and the development of alternative rock styles such as noise rock and industrial rock. Chapman’s album arrangements were characterized by an acoustic guitar at the forefront, along with some light folk-rock flourishes. But the most prominent feature is Chapman’s contralto (a lower register for females) vocals, which were unique, reminding me of British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and are somewhat androgynous. The album’s arrangements and Chapman’s vocals are the perfect fit for her songwriting. The whole presentation is simple but elegant. It is an impressive debut.
The album opens with “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution,” which is a simplistic protest song with the lyric:
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what’s theirs
The song was written during the age of Reagan and Bush, when the saying “Greed is Good” was a cultural mantra. The song has been invoked in actual revolutions and was the unofficial theme song for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
“Fast Car” was the first single and the song that catapulted Chapman to stardom. The song wonderfully captures the feeling of being stuck in a dead-end situation and yearning to escape.
The intro of “Across The Lines” sounds like a R.E.M. song and quickly shifts to a Tracy Chapman song. Lyrically, it speaks of tensions between the races in America.
“Behind the Wall” is an a cappella tale of domestic violence. The a cappella performance makes the song particularly haunting, coupled with the bleak lyrics.
“Baby Can I Hold You” is a conventional love song with the simple message: treat me right, apologize when you are wrong, and love me.
“Mountains O’ Things” is a song about consumerism with a percussive keyboard riff that would not sound out of place on an ’80s Peter Gabriel album. The arrangement sounds a bit out of place on the album.
“She’s Got Her Ticket” has a slight reggae lilt. The character in “Fast Car” who wants to escape now has a ticket out in this song.
“Why?” is a conventional protest song that lists a series of contradictions.
“For My Lover” is a song about forbidden love. Chapman has been evasive about her sexual orientation, but this song is clearly about a gay relationship, which in 1988 had a stigma.
“If Not Now…” is a gorgeous piano-forward live-for-the-moment ballad.
“For You” ends the album on a plaintive note. The song talks about trusting your heart over your head.
Many protest songs are heavy on the protest and light on the song. Chapman’s gift is that she knows how to write a hook – the songs on this album are genuine earworms, which is why she had such commercial success. The melodies lure you into the message, ultimately enhancing it. Another unique feature of this album is the exceptional quality of the recording; it is so sonically well-executed that it is one of my go-to recordings for test-driving stereo equipment. This is one of the most impressive debut albums, and unfortunately, it overshadowed the rest of her career.
*Promo copies often feature distinctive marks, like “Promotional Use Only” or “Not for Sale” printed on the label or sleeve, a different colored label, or a plain white label. These special pressings were often sent to radio stations and DJs in limited quantities. I sought them out because they were like new (but about half the price) and for their higher sound quality, as they are often among the first pressings made using the original stampers. My copy of Tracy Chapman’s debut is a pristine promo with outstanding sound quality—significantly better than the Redbook CD quality (16-bit/44.1 kHz) found on streaming services.
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