Thursday, March 24, 2016

Fast Car

This week when we were assigned to read about and listen to Tracy Chapman I can admit that I didn't really know who she was nor was I that interested in learning about her either. From reading the article I don't think that I would be able to say that anything stood out to me, but when listening to her music a lot of things stood out to me. The first thing that stood out to me was when she said, "You got a fast car. And I got a plan to get us out of here. I been working at the convenience store. Managed to save just a little bit of money. We won't have to drive too far. Just 'cross the border and into the city." Before reading the article I did not think that I would be able to connect to Chapman in any way possible, but when listening to Fast Car I felt like I had something in common with her. I knew how it felt to want to just get out and get away. To just want to get on the next car, bus, or train away from where I am now. The second thing that stood out to me was how strongly she felt about chasing her freedom. I really liked the fact that Tracy Chapman wrote a whole song about this. Most people crave freedom, but never talk about how to go about obtaining it. The sensible part of me knows that she most likely not serious when she said she would leave, but the dreamer in me believes that she would seriously pick up one day and leave. Just because that’s what the dreamer in me would do.
When listening to Talkin’ Bout a Revolution the line that stood out to me the most is, “They’re Talkin Bout a Revolution. It sounds like a whisper. While they’re standing in the welfare lines. Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation. Wasting time in the unemployment lines. Sitting around waiting for a promotion.” This stood out to me the most because this song was written 28 years ago, and the problems are still the same. Keep in mind that 28 years isn’t that long ago, but it is enough time to try and make a change. Talkin’ Bout a Revolution will always be a song that we as a society can always listen to when we need to be uplifted and brought together in order to enact real change. 

2 comments:

  1. I liked how you were able to connect to Tracy Chapman's music and songs. I also liked how she wrote about freedom and she openly expressed she wanted to be freed from her old life and to just get away and start a new one, I feel like a lot of people can relate to this.

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  2. I also agree that I felt like I could relate to Tracy in the song Fast Car. There are so many times where I just want to get out and get away from everything and her song had that exact same message

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