Fast Cars...and Stupid

     I know, I know...I should be relaxing, taking deep breaths, enjoying the gorgeous weather, and leaving the keyboard alone. What can I say? I'm an addict. Anyway, if you went on your FanDuel gambling site and placed a prop bet saying the website "FROMTHEGOLFROOM.blogspot.com will never have an essay with the names Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs"...well, pay up. Because that essay has arrived.

    It has recently come to my attention that the aforementioned Luke Combs, whom I've been told is a country music superstar, has recently topped the charts once again with a remake of the late '80s hit Fast Car, which was recorded by the aforementioned Tracy Chapman. Now, if you're a devotee of American country music, this is not news to you. Well, it was news to me. And I type that with the utmost respect. You see, I'm probably in the small minority of people who push back on the notion that we live in the most racially charged time EVER. Don't get me wrong, we've got a boatload of racists and bigots and small-minded morons on both sides of the political and racial aisles. But I see young white kids rapping to Snoop and Dr. Dre; and I see young black kids air-guitaring to Led Zeppelin or Pearl Jam, or even better, young black kids discarding the philosophy that was very prevalent when I was in high school, of "acting white" which in that context meant "don't study and try to advance through intellectual rigor like the white kids do." And while there are still too many college kids who want to self-segregate themselves, for reasons I can't comprehend, I believe the racial thermometer, while not perfect (and no one is ever going to accuse me of being the optimistic sort), is better than many people think it is. But back to Tracy and Luke.

    Look, I know very little about these two people. I remember the song Fast Car. I wasn't a big fan, if for no other reason than it just wasn't my style of music. But it is the kind of song that sticks in your head, even all these years later. Mostly, because it was one of those songs that radio stations played ad nauseam! Sort of like the band Journey. I mean, really? Could there be a universe where a Journey song isn't played every 26 minutes on every music station?? Please??? But I digress. To be honest, the clearest thing I remember about Fast Car is the spoof that the great sketch show In Living Color did about it! Priceless...

    And I know even less about Luke Combs. So because I'm a dork, I went on YouTube and saw a live version of Combs introducing and then singing Fast Car. I have to admit...it was great. He didn't screw up the original the way so many people screw up The Star Spangled Banner. He was respectful and heartfelt (I believe) in his love for the song. The audience soaked it all in. Cheering every step of the way. And not to put too fine a point on it, but there aren't too many black kids/adults at a Luke Combs concert. And that's fine. To each his own. The closest I get to country music is James Taylor. Trust me, my dear friend Jack Pepper was never happy about that! And you know what Tracy Chapman, who is black by the way, said when this thing became a hit the second time around...35 YEARS LATER?! "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.'" And Combs' response to that? “That’s the gift of a supernatural song writer. The success of my cover is unreal and I think it’s so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones,” added Combs. “I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!” Among other things, Chapman and Combs are both sane.

    Well, sanity is not in abundance amongst the herd of 'woke.' I introduce you to someone named Emily Yahr, a columnist, if you can call her that, for The Washington Post. Yahr is part of the Great Age of Stupid in which we live. Of the many things that Yahr tweeted and later wrote about regarding this so-called "tragedy", she types,"As Luke Combs’ hit cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” dominates the country charts, it’s bringing up some complicated emotions in fans and singers who know that Chapman, as a queer black woman, would have an almost zero chance at that achievement herself." You people think I write stupid things? There is so much in these 43 words that is so frighteningly absurd it boggles the mind. Let's begin with the fact the original is NOT a country song, NOR was Chapman a country artist...so there's that. Yahr also tries to equate Chapman with the black rock'n'roll artists of the 1950s who got screwed and never achieved the recognition their white counterparts did who covered or ripped off their songs. But Chapman has wholeheartedly endorsed this remake! 

    And as much as I want to ignore it (as I get more annoyed), why does Yahr find the need to throw a dart at the issue of Chapman's sexuality? While writing at one point that Chapman does not discuss her personal life, Yahr seems to have no problem doing it based on hearsay. And then there's the word 'queer.' Really? (I could write a thesis paper on how the modern trans movement has shoved aside and even reinvented the history of the gay movement and replaced it with the LGBT+ movement's Year Zero World View "Us Trans Were Here First!" But I can only take so much stupid at a time. Feel free to search the nitwit Sam Smith's ludicrous claims a few years ago about being a pioneering LGBT voice in pop music, seemingly unaware of the careers of those little-known backwater shrubs like Elton John, Freddie Mercury and George Michael. Moron. But again, I digress.) 

    The worst thing about Yahr and those like her, is that she assumes that Combs had all the success with this song and somehow, like her 1950s predecessors, Chapman got screwed because she's black, lesbian, left-handed...whatever. Well, back in the real world, Chapman was nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. If there's a tragedy here, it's the fact that she lost BOTH of those awards to Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy. REALLY!!!!! That's like Oppenheimer losing the opening movie-going weekend to Barbie!! Peter, Oppenheimer did lose the opening weekend to Barbie, you dope. Oh, my bad. Anyway, Chapman did win Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist. That's not bad for a rookie. Tracy Chapman may have been a one-hit wonder, but it was a big one-hit. She doesn't owe anyone, anything. And the cool thing is, she knows it. One hopes that Ms. Yahr does her homework in the future. Maybe The Washington Post doesn't care...but the rest of us do. 

    So what did we learn here? Well, not everyone is a victim. Secondly, the vast majority of Americans, as far as I can tell, don't give a damn about black and white. Lastly, I think I'll download Fast Car into my iTunes library. Yes, even the Luke Combs version. Take that, Pep!

write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com