It was written, produced, and performed by artists born in the United States.
But I include it on this blog because it is has a story -- a big, beautiful story that overlaps with many of the stories of world music.
Fast Car -- and the story of its recent revival -- is best told in several videos. The 1988 song is the second track on Tracy Chapman's eponymous 1990 album (CD/vinyl/cassette), which we played repeatedly in our home and (not-so-fast) car in the years after its release.
Chapman's success was as ground-breaking as the song was ubiquitous. The Grammy she earned with it was among many firsts for a black female artist. And the song stayed with an entire generation of men and women, regardless of race.
The live version recored at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday celebration has garnered over 5 million views on YouTube alone. (Read "the story behind this performance" for the bittersweet details of how she ended up on the Wembley stage for the second time that day. She was originally scheduled only to perform Talkin 'bout a Revolution -- which is equally amazing and important.)
Among the white folks who enjoyed the song was Chester Combs, a North Carolinian more or less my age. Like me, he played the song so much that it became one of his son's favorite songs. Luke Combs was born two years after Chapman released the song, the same year as it was released on the album.
Young Luke grew up to become a country musician and in his mid 20s he started singing Fast Car at his live shows. People sang along. Again, everyone of a certain age already knew the words. His cover is the same song, beautifully reimagined but at the same time only subtly different from the original.
This version of the song did several things at once. It helped to earn awards and set records for Luke Combs. It earned Tracy Chapman Song of the Year from the Country Music Association -- something nice to go along with multiple nominations and one award from the Grammys and MTV a full generation earlier.
And like all great cross-over successes, it introduced artists to new audiences. I am willing to bet that there as as many "Tracy who?" as "Luke who?" questions being asked when this news broke. I remember learning of a group called Black-eyed Peas only after they recorded a few songs with Brazilian bossa nova singer Sérgio Mendes (speaking of world music).
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