Were you alive in 1988? If so we are POSITIVE you recall a little song called 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman. It played on every station all of the time and was on the Billboard charts for a little over 20 weeks. We loved it then and we love it now.
The song has been covered by country singer Luke Combs and we love it again. Emily Yahr, whose bio on Twitter states she is an 'entertainment reporter' made some waves with an article she pushed about Combs' success stating that Chapman would not have been able to achieve the same success as Combs with her own song.
As Luke Combs's hit cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" dominates the country charts, it’s bringing up some complicated emotions in fans & singers who know that Chapman, as a queer Black woman, would have an almost zero chance at that achievement herself: https://t.co/7pCIMW5F0N
— Emily Yahr (@EmilyYahr) July 13, 2023
Nobody is having that. Chapman had TONS of success with the song and she actually enjoys the success of Comb's cover since she will get royalties from his version as well.
Yahr went on to post the following tweet further pushing the idea that if Chapman had tried to release it as a country song she would NOT have that same success.
A recent study from @data_jada and @jadiehm shows that fewer than 0.5 percent of songs played on country radio in 2022 were by women of color and LGBTQ+ artists, and were largely excluded from radio playlists for most of the two decades prior. https://t.co/YmVIuNa6LE
— Emily Yahr (@EmilyYahr) July 13, 2023
We hope Yahr just wrote that clickbait because she needed the money and gets paid by the clicks but as silly as most people are in the movie and music industries lately we are sad to say she probably really believes it.
Chapman has a great voice and IF she decided to release country music we are 100% positive she could chart just as Darius Rucker, former Hootie and the Blowfish lead who moved from pop to country with great success.
Luckily Twitter came to the rescue to set Yahr straight and we were there to see it and now you get to join in the fun!
Are you high?
— StopWokeCulture 🇺🇸 (@MkayUokay) July 14, 2023
That song was THE BIGGEST HIT when it came out. Everyone sung it. You kids should at least do some homework before you turn in your articles. Good grief.
Yahr probably did do homework, but we are pretty sure a lot of 'entertainment reporters just decide what trigger word they want to use and start with that. In this case, it was country music fans are a bunch of racists and Luke Combs success with a black artist's song proves it and PRESTO an article is born.
Does it hurt to be this uninformed?
— Jeremy Knauff (@jeremyknauff) July 14, 2023
You would think so, but we have come to the conclusion that stupid people surround themselves with others just as stupid so they never actually know or understand they are stupid. :)
Confused by this - did Chapman WANT to be top of the country charts like she was elsewhere?
— Cheesetrader (@cheesetrader1) July 14, 2023
Massive hit which won a bunch of awards for her along with a ton of popularity
I suspect you weren't a young adult in 88 when this came out
If Tracy Chapman had recorded the song in Nashville and been promoted by Nashville guys, it would've been a country hit. Queer and Black got nothing to do with it. I think the problem this writer has is with straight & white. Genderal appropriation or something.
— Karl Maher (@karlmaher) July 14, 2023
EXACTLY! If Chapman wanted to be a country artist, she has a wonderful rich voice and she could have done it. Again she is still enjoying the success of her song on the country charts via royalties from Combs version.
Because her Grammy winning song on her smash album weren't country, you absolute cabbage
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) July 14, 2023
HA! We are pretty creative if insulting people without cursing over here at Twitchy but we have never used 'cabbage'. It will be on the go-to list from here on out.
Emily, were you alive when Tracy Chapman's song won 3 Grammys and no one cared about her skin color or sexuality?
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 15, 2023
Someone needs to do a country version of “Closer to Fine” so Emily can recycle this article. 🤣 I love both songs and always have.
— Robert T. Ives (@Justalurke) July 15, 2023
We doubt Emily cares about how much success Chapman had with the song originally she just wanted to make country music fans racist but we have to agree with the response that 'Closer to Fine' could be another huge country hit. We would want Chapman to release it herself in a country version and make people like Emily go insane but even if somebody else covered it, we would love it.
lol pic.twitter.com/8xhaBjba97
— ghost of daniel parker (@SeekerOTL) July 14, 2023
Welp, if that is not considered a success for Chapman we do not know what is.
Imagining that Tracy Chapman’s original version of “Fast Car” was ignored is just insane historical revisionism. True it didn’t dominate country charts - BECAUSE IT WASN’T A COUNTRY SONG. These Tumblr reject opinion makers are ruining our culture. https://t.co/BthleUpAtY
— Jon 🔬 (@JonnyMicro) July 14, 2023
'Tumbler reject opinion makers' that is description perfection. We are jealous we did not coin that phrase ourselves.
Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" never made it onto the country charts either. Was that because he's a black lesbian? Or could something else be at play here? https://t.co/qTPhc6qbX7
— Eric Spencer (@JustEric) July 14, 2023
Totally because he is secretly a black lesbian. Nothing to do with the fact he did not make it a country song.
Gordon Lightfoot said to have been upset he never climbed the Death Metal charts. https://t.co/ml3iFbnGFT
— Daddy Warpig (@DaddyWarpig) July 15, 2023
Those tweets with various artists who did not make it on the country charts BECAUSE they are NOT country artists are great.
As for what Tracy herself thinks about the song's success on the country charts, she told Billboard:
'I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’
We hope Chapman keeps getting rewarded for her talent and we are going to go listen to her original version of 'Fast Car' RIGHT NOW. You should too. It is really a great song, in any genre.
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