"Fast Car"

I spent my morning having a lot of feelings about "Fast Car," because social media was full of videos of Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs performing it as a duet at the Grammys. Here's my Tumblr reblog of the full performance.

As I said in the tags over there, I had been very "huh?" the first time I heard Combs' cover, because the original's perfect as is and his cover doesn't really reinterpret it or anything. But then I learned that he just wanted to introduce the song to new audiences because he loves it so much, and I think that admiration and respect really shows in the performance, which I found charming. And Chapman is just radiant, so happy and assured, and sounding absolutely wonderful. (The NYT (gift link) had a nice article about the performance, including how "welcoming and expansive" it felt.)

The other interesting thing about the duet is that it's Chapman's version except for a single word. Combs's cover is indeed quite faithful, but it's not 100%. First, he reduces the number of instrumental refrains between verses. The Grammys duet uses the original instrumentals, except slowed down just a tad and with an added violin (which I really like). Second, Combs's cover changes the two critical question verses.

lyrics comparisons

The first of these comes after the narrator recounts dropping out of school to take care of her alcoholic father after her mother leaves. Copied from Genius:

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

Combs's cover:

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
Still gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

Which is fine. However, the second question verse comes after the narrator realizes that her (edit:) partner also drinks too much:

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

Whereas Combs makes no changes to his first iteration:

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
Still gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

And that's the end of the song, and it's SO important that the narrator is choosing differently than her mother! She's made her decision, she knows what she's doing; the "you" can take it or leave it.

The duet sort-of splits the difference.

Combs: You got a fast car
Chapman: Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
Combs: We gotta make a decision
Chapman: Leave tonight or live and die this way

I wish that he'd gone with "you" instead of "we," of course; actually, "still" might have made more sense there than in his cover. All the same, it's otherwise such a beautiful performance that I'll forgive it.

But really, thinking about that lyrics change mostly reminded me of how affecting I've always found the deep sadness, hope, and determination in the song. It's so beautiful, and I'm delighted by its second life.

Anyway. Here's the remastered original.

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