I was 11 years old living in social housing with my alcoholic mother the year this song came out. This song gave a small hope just maybe one day i could drive away from it all. I did six years later.
Tracy is a Cleveland girl. When she debuted with this song, everythig about her was taboo. Her wild hair, her muscular body, her playing for herself, her advocating for lesbian rights..her own community disowned her. She moved to the Coadt and fought her way to Grammy status. A true American treasure.
Do you know how many of my black "friends" told me how much they Hated Tracy Chapman???? I figured it out in the end...They hated my white ass too...I still like Tracy's song....screw them.
Where do you all get this stuff? First, her hair is not "wild." They're locs. It's a pretty standard hair style for Black people, even back then. Somebody had to do it for her. And plenty of Black people love Tracy Chapman. It's impossible for 40 million people to ALL love or hate the same thing.
Her and Nina Simone are why I always felt physically sick around any type of racism and prejudice. Billie Holiday too. 3 women in 3 separate iconic times STILL looking for the same freedom. So I have serious problems when I encountered any form of it. Whether it was a white relation to LatinX immigrants because she didn't understand the language OR an Asian relation towards someone of Armenian refugee who drives a great car and doesn't work. Turns my stomach every time & yeah, I've seen people treat melanin-rich humans (it's a good way of humanizing people who simply carry the slight change in genetics between race that simply alters the amount of melanin in our skin-tone for all those prejudiced people who are determined to believe that we are different people). Ugh. If we were all the same then heaven would be boring AF. Course I don't think certain people will be in my afterlife because I want a happy, joyous, fully enriched spiritual existence where color only matters in how we paint our skies.
@@agricolaregs yes that was over 30 years ago I have a wonderful life for the most part. I have PTSD and a few other problems like that but I do my best to live life every day
This fool knows the song. All these channels with "first time hearing" are a load of bollocks. This guy has loads of them, no way are they all genuine.
Carl Rees yeah I felt watching it that he may have listened to it before recording but when Rihanna Kanye and Paul McCartney had a song years ago and there was a small bunch of people who hadn't a clue who Paul was, I realised that there are some with very sheltered music exposure. The reaction videos are different to the first time hearing videos as far as I know.
@@richardjw953 Correct, there are poor people all over the world that try to escape poverty, generation after generation. This song is not confined to a specific place on earth. The song is valid on a global scale.
@@Pistolwhipperz Sorry but it's not. Its a song about how people become who they are and how history repeats. Poverty was a theme but not the message. The key was comparing her childhood in the story and who she ended up marrying was a guy just like her alcoholic father. Buy the end up the song she doesn't have money issues and lives int he suburbs with her kids but become just like her mother who bailed on her. This song equally about chasing dreams, but also of the nightmare of ending up where you began (by becoming who you were running from).
I was young when this song came out. I'd just left a man who beat me & was living in an abandoned condemned house trying to figure out what I was going to do. I was across the country from my parents & couldn't tell them because my mom would have had a breakdown. But I had my job which was my fast car (In my mind) to getting out of there eventually. This song made it possible for me to cry about what had gone wrong in my life but also gave me the resilience to hang in there, pick up the pieces, not feel so alone & abandoned.. and keep working for a better life ahead. It took a long slow while, was really brutal & sad often but it happened. I was in a better place. 30 years later & that song takes me right back to that time. Sad, scared, feeling defeated but pushing forward anyway.
Well done you. Head down and go for it is the only way, no looking back to see the burning bridges; they are burning for a reason. Be very proud of you Zoe.
I remember when she played in Dublin in the 90s. We were in a packed room and it was absolutely silent as everyone listened in awe to her beautiful voice and perfectly formed songs. It was magic.
@@yvonnemclay8097 I know and it's all good, it's just that I think it's one of the best songs ever written, and so I just want everyone to be aware of it :D
Yvonne McLay I just cant believe he’s never heard it on the radio before. I’m in my early 20’s and grew up with this song being played a LOT. But I am in the UK.
I'd have to say it's one of the saddest songs ever written, and lyrically one of the best. And it's so sad because even when in her imagination her humble dreams came true, there were still problems. Big problems.
@@Bacopa68 It's history repeating despite her struggles that makes this song tragic. She basically married a man just like her father, and become the mother that abandoned her.
This song breaks my heart every time I hear it. Her voice is so beautiful, so full of soul. I have loved her music from the first I ever heard her sing.
Do not pin sjw on her. She is so much better than that, in my opinion. So much BETTER. She is real and meaningful, nothing about force coming from her, in this at least.
She was a starving student in college. Her roommate said let’s go downtown on thanksgiving or Christmas and sing and try to make some money. A record producers son saw them and gave his dads business card to Tracy.
Aatikah Carmen happy ...........wow that’s so racist, while I was growing up, born in 1955 we never had racism where I lived. I had black freinds but never had to think about their colour. These days everybody is racist. I am as white as they come and never knew racism until these leftwing SJWs and white wasters brought it up to get control the black and coloured people to ‘get’ their votes. Stop thinking about racism to stop being racist.
@@hangxiaohuz748 I was born 10 years later in 1965. I have never seen race relations so bad in my life, and things were fairly turbulent in my childhood.....but nothing like they are now! I don't understand it. I have my theories, though.
I could not agree more. Even at the younger age I was when I first heard this, I understood what it was to be trapped in poverty's gaze. It was hope and hopelessness all at once.
My ABSOLUTE favorite song on the planet. It came on the radio years ago on my way to ask my dad if I could come back home. It's brilliance to me personally is that she sings everything that I was thinking when I left home. The last thing my dad said is "You'll be back". I failed. I had to go back. Hung my head in shame. All these years later, and after losing Pop, I thank my him for never saying "Don't come back". Dads are usually right. Mine let me go to fly on my own. And he hugged me so tight after coming back. Not once said I told ya so.
There was a point where I was walking down my street in San Francisco and EVERYONE was playing this song. It was coming out of all the houses on my block!
DS9Sisko perhaps he listened to it and had a different interpretation of it than you? That’s the joy of music, it means something different to everyone. Stop being so judgemental, it’s not needed
@@fortunax22 US Americans are conditioned to believe in "The American Dream", that's not his fault. But he wants to listen more and more, so might get it, in time.
But the last verse is her telling the fast car driver to make a decision, grow up, or get out. I can see how the slow but sure grind of the single parent family, alcoholic father, leaving school, jumping from minimum wage job to minimum wage job and ending up with a partner who is a complete deadbeat is sad. But some people will see her ultimatum at the end as her making a stand. Taking control and trying to do something. And those people who hear that message are so lucky. I think that this is one of those truly breathtaking songs that is shaped by the listener as much as the singer - and that's entirely down to her writing.
One of my favorites; such a haunting, exquisite voice. Bittersweet. It came out at a time my daughter was in a bad relationship (in a shelter etc) The lyrics are so honest & raw. It always makes me well up. Great pick!
@@brucecoleman5379 It's sad because their hope finds no resolution. At least up to that point, their hope had found no resolution. It's the plight of most people on this planet. Those of us fortunate enough to live with "normal" comforts are actually living exceptional lives compared to many. Just the fact that we can converse in this manner using a computer: It shows our privilege.
@@brucecoleman5379 It is sad. Because by the end of the song, she realises that her dreams of a better life aren't going to happen. She sacrificed herself while caring for her father in the beginning, and now she has to sacrifice herself caring for her children. She encourages the father to ... fly away, or live and die this way. She has given up all hope.
Music can touch the deepest places in our hearts whether we like it or not. My friend committed suicide 12 years ago and his favorite song still makes me cry and it’s not even sad. Music is so powerful 💚 I’m sorry for your loss. It’s terrible to lose a friend.
It's a beautiful tune, beautiful singing and the lyrics are a series of gut punching realities about dreams and trying to "be someone, be someone"; it never fails to bring an honest tear to my eye. I like that you want to listen to it again and more and more ... you should; and hopefully you'll get that same tear in your eye.
So glad you said that. I thought I was the only one that teared up everytime I heard it. She was let down by so many people she should've been able to count on, but she keeps on going...surviving.
@@welshman100 True, but then it hits you with the last part, where she's still stuck in the same place because of her now-deadbeat husband. It's sad af, but if there are people who can take the good out of it and aspire to get out of their own rut, I can see how it could be a feel-good song.
people react to songs differently than others. it can be a sad song, but he feels good listening to it and you should let him. you can weep, he can nod along and smile
The most amazing thing about this song is just how far ahead of its time it was. Recorded in 1987, it sounds right at home in the 90s, at any point of the decade.
Nick Gibbs yeah but Tracy Chapman isn’t some undiscovered artist that only a handful of people know about... I mean sheesh her music is still played on the radio... 😂 That’s like people saying they don’t know about A Tribe Called Quest
@@kiarabanks6123 we're glad that you know the song...let him enjoy this moment...its a beautiful and eloquent song with heart ...too many people judging because of him not know the song...he's young...
badlongon She doesn’t get the recognition that she deserves. I guess it’s partially because of the sociopolitical nature of some of her songs and partially because she is different. She doesn’t fit the industry’s definition of what is considered beautiful and she doesn’t walk around with her ass or tits hanging out. Smh.
I love the vibrato in her voice when she says "I" too! Baby Can I Hold You Tonight is another great Tracy song. Btw, she plays the guitar you enjoyed so much.
@@jisookruzat Apparently you are not singular in your assessment. I have never thought of her as male, or even thought beyond simply enjoying her beautiful essence, talent, and incredible smile. She's a gift. If you are new to her, there is much music to enjoy. She is deeply respected in the industry and has some great collaborations as well. : )
Her live performance of 'Revolution' is stunning...I think it was her Live Aid Perfomance at Wembley Stadium. Actually, Edit - everything Tracey sings is stunning ♡
I believe there are still many singer songwriters just as (well almost) as good out there today. No music studios are promoting them unfortunately. We probably will never here them.
@@LG123ABC I mean I could also give them a logical explanation and a list of very talented artists who are still releasing extremely well crafted albums but everyone knows that they will stick to their opinions so why bother
This song always makes me cry. It's so sweet and sad. There's the protagonist who is optomistic and in love with a pessimist. And in the end she has to just cut her losses. 😭
Wait a sec. She did grow up poor but she went to Tufts University for Anthropology then got signed to Elekra Records after graduation. Her biography failed to mention her time living on the streets...she performed in plazas and coffee shops but I think that's it.
What a voice. You don't really expect this song to hit you when it first starts, but as she sings the story it starts hitting your soul. So, I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast, I felt like I was drunk City lights lay out before us And your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder And I, I, I had a feeling that I belonged I, I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone Those are hard hitting lyrics and her voice effortlessly brings the emotion to them.
This one always helps me cry. Reminds me of my dad, the guys I dated to run away from reality, and then my dad's cancer and that I quit working at a school to take care of him. And then "I had a feeling I belonged. I had a feeling I could be someone..." for when my dad finally started being a dad to me.
Yes. You said the name right. Your reaction was pretty much exactly my reaction when I first heard that song. And that was so many years ago. Her words and her melodies in her songs are captivating. I can always listen to her.
When I was little kid, I remember hearing this on the radio. I really liked the song but I called Tracy a him. My mom corrected me and she said that this was actually a girl. Right after she said that, the "I work at the market as a checkout girl" line was said. I remember being in total shock.
Connect with me on my social media:
instagram:instagram.com/jayveetv/?hl=en
Facebook:facebook.com/JayveeTV1
Twitter:twitter.com/Jayvee_Tv
Dude you need to check out Bliss N Eso My Life
More Tracy Chapman please. 😊
Please listen to Tracy Chapman..All that you have is your soul...💘💘
Black water by JJ Grey & Mofro!!
You need to check out Gang of Youths Deepest Sighs Frankest Shadows
I was 11 years old living in social housing with my alcoholic mother the year this song came out. This song gave a small hope just maybe one day i could drive away from it all. I did six years later.
Wow
What age are you now?
Blessings to you!
Glad you overcame. I did too. My kids have what we didn’t. Peace out :)
🙏🏾❤️
This song is almost 32 years old. It stands up through time. Never seems old.
OMG! NO! I feel so old 😂😂 I remember sitting on the doorstep in the summer listening to this x
Wow, I hate you lol. I graduated from high school a year before this album came out. The years are flashing by now. 😐
My how time flies, didn't it was quite that old damn ...♡
Yep, 1988! It its timeless. If it were released today it would still be a huge hit. Very current feeling.
True, and one of the best songs ever written.
Tracy is a Cleveland girl. When she debuted with this song, everythig about her was taboo. Her wild hair, her muscular body, her playing for herself, her advocating for lesbian rights..her own community disowned her. She moved to the Coadt and fought her way to Grammy status. A true American treasure.
Do you know how many of my black "friends" told me how much they Hated Tracy Chapman???? I figured it out in the end...They hated my white ass too...I still like Tracy's song....screw them.
She's very Joan Armatrading
She is a treasure for the whole world
@@mac1975 i am from France and she is a treasure for me. My favorite singer.
Where do you all get this stuff? First, her hair is not "wild." They're locs. It's a pretty standard hair style for Black people, even back then. Somebody had to do it for her. And plenty of Black people love Tracy Chapman. It's impossible for 40 million people to ALL love or hate the same thing.
Her lyrics are deep, she's a storyteller, her voice gives me chills
❤
Total goosebumps❤
Her and Nina Simone are why I always felt physically sick around any type of racism and prejudice. Billie Holiday too. 3 women in 3 separate iconic times STILL looking for the same freedom. So I have serious problems when I encountered any form of it. Whether it was a white relation to LatinX immigrants because she didn't understand the language OR an Asian relation towards someone of Armenian refugee who drives a great car and doesn't work. Turns my stomach every time & yeah, I've seen people treat melanin-rich humans (it's a good way of humanizing
people who simply carry the slight change in genetics between race that simply alters the amount of melanin in our skin-tone for all those prejudiced people who are determined to believe that we are different people). Ugh. If we were all the same then heaven would be boring AF. Course I don't think certain people will be in my afterlife because I want a happy, joyous, fully enriched spiritual existence where color only matters in how we paint our skies.
@W What's with the "not as good as"? What makes Kendrick Lamar "better"? Because he's a boy?
@W better singer
I was homeless at 14 this is one of the songs that made me feel I was not alone
Jennie Kreiner better now? I hope.
@@agricolaregs yes that was over 30 years ago I have a wonderful life for the most part. I have PTSD and a few other problems like that but I do my best to live life every day
I hope all is well now , best wishes
So glad you are better. This song makes you think and evaluate your life, seriously!
Homeless at 14! What the hell!
I've no idea why this was recommended to me but this song was so iconic that I had to see someone who didn't know it.
Same here this song puts me in some kind of mood
Yep, same here!
This fool knows the song. All these channels with "first time hearing" are a load of bollocks. This guy has loads of them, no way are they all genuine.
Carl Rees yeah I felt watching it that he may have listened to it before recording but when Rihanna Kanye and Paul McCartney had a song years ago and there was a small bunch of people who hadn't a clue who Paul was, I realised that there are some with very sheltered music exposure. The reaction videos are different to the first time hearing videos as far as I know.
Same
Fast Car is hands down one of the greatest songs of all time.
Seeing a first time listener's reaction to it was emotional, not gonna lie.
It’s interesting, that happens to me too. I don’t get emotional with these types of songs unless I’m watching a first reaction video for some reason…
The song is about the cycle of poverty and the hopelessness of trying to escape it.
Ah-MAY-zing artist.
@@Pistolwhipperz Yep, exactly.
The struggle is real my friend
@@Pistolwhipperz Why did you feel the need to bring race into this. Are there poor people of other races where she comes from?
@@richardjw953 Correct, there are poor people all over the world that try to escape poverty, generation after generation. This song is not confined to a specific place on earth. The song is valid on a global scale.
@@Pistolwhipperz Sorry but it's not. Its a song about how people become who they are and how history repeats. Poverty was a theme but not the message. The key was comparing her childhood in the story and who she ended up marrying was a guy just like her alcoholic father. Buy the end up the song she doesn't have money issues and lives int he suburbs with her kids but become just like her mother who bailed on her. This song equally about chasing dreams, but also of the nightmare of ending up where you began (by becoming who you were running from).
I was young when this song came out. I'd just left a man who beat me & was living in an abandoned condemned house trying to figure out what I was going to do. I was across the country from my parents & couldn't tell them because my mom would have had a breakdown. But I had my job which was my fast car (In my mind) to getting out of there eventually. This song made it possible for me to cry about what had gone wrong in my life but also gave me the resilience to hang in there, pick up the pieces, not feel so alone & abandoned.. and keep working for a better life ahead. It took a long slow while, was really brutal & sad often but it happened. I was in a better place. 30 years later & that song takes me right back to that time. Sad, scared, feeling defeated but pushing forward anyway.
You’re a survivor! I’m so happy you got out of such a bad situation!
Just the fact that you left. Even with nowhere to go and came on the other side better...warrior! 💪 👏
This gives me strength in my situation.
Well done you. Head down and go for it is the only way, no looking back to see the burning bridges; they are burning for a reason. Be very proud of you Zoe.
Thank-you for sharing your beautiful story..full of so much hope.
You are very brave and incredibly strong.
The first time I heard Tracy Chapman I was driving. Her voice struck me so deeply I had to pull over to listen and to cry. Beautiful singer.
This song still brings tears to my eyes after all these decades
Me too.
My people❤ same here lol
yes
Same. I’m bawling like a baby.
It hits the heart in a more powerful way as you get older. The lyrics are so real 😌💗
All these years, and this song still hurts..breaks my heart..
Zee Zaa me too ❤️💜
Zee Zaa mine too. My life. This brings back too many memories
She's amazing. Can really get lost in her voice, never gets old after 30 years. Legend.
I remember when she played in Dublin in the 90s. We were in a packed room and it was absolutely silent as everyone listened in awe to her beautiful voice and perfectly formed songs. It was magic.
Out here 3 years in the future, your comment gave me shivers. I can imagine the magic you described.
I like Tracy singing "talking bout a revolution"
Yes!!!!
Every word of it rings just as true now as it did when she recorded it..sadly..
Scary how it fits 2021 🙏✌️🇺🇸
the album has many great songs to listem to
I'm flabbergasted that you never heard it before :O
I'm jealous that I can never hear it for the first time again.
DannX68 sometimes I think that too, but he’s reasonably young and we forget how old this song is
@@yvonnemclay8097 I know and it's all good, it's just that I think it's one of the best songs ever written, and so I just want everyone to be aware of it :D
Yvonne McLay I just cant believe he’s never heard it on the radio before.
I’m in my early 20’s and grew up with this song being played a LOT. But I am in the UK.
@@RhapsodySky1 I couldn't handle it being played everywhere when it first came out. It was like getting punched in the gut 5 times a day.
Well put
This is such a sad song. Our expectations of life when we’re young vs. the reality of it.
...in the belly of the British Empire, that is. Cars and booze and work all day for the system to pay the bills. Better times ahead!
I'd have to say it's one of the saddest songs ever written, and lyrically one of the best. And it's so sad because even when in her imagination her humble dreams came true, there were still problems. Big problems.
Bigsurjay at least we got one 😊
@@Bacopa68 It's history repeating despite her struggles that makes this song tragic. She basically married a man just like her father, and become the mother that abandoned her.
Hope - this song is about hope and our journey....
This entire album is solid. I'd recommend listening to the whole thing.
She reminds me of a modern day Bob Dylan.
Still after all this time it is still one of my absolute favourite albums.... I never get bored listening to it 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Remember Robert Cray was big at the same time Tracy Chapman was big.
_Gimme one reason to stay here ... And I'll turn right back around
… I don't want leave you lonely
… But you got to make me change my mind_ *💘*
This song breaks my heart every time I hear it. Her voice is so beautiful, so full of soul. I have loved her music from the first I ever heard her sing.
drunk father, schizophrenic mom, 9 assorted brothers and sisters.......at 15 I left and never looked back......this gave me the peace I needed
We don’t have to let the past define who we are. We can rise above that past and be who we want to be!
I was 19 when this came out. It was so different than everything else that was out at the time. Quite a Melancholy song.
Yes she was totally different from anybody who came before her 👍💗
One of the most distinctive voices in the history of recorded music.
You have to listen to “baby can I hold you tonight” by her.. that song! Is it!
"Leave tonight or live and die this way." Goosebumps!
That's a goddess, there.
I always thought these were some of the most intense lyrics .... and her rendition of them is heart breaking
Still listening to her music, social injustice queen, we all need to listen to her more imo. Wonderful songwriter/storyteller.
Do not pin sjw on her. She is so much better than that, in my opinion. So much BETTER. She is real and meaningful, nothing about force coming from her, in this at least.
Actually, every song on this album is outstanding.
Stayed on the charts for a long time
Amen.
You're right every song on that album was amazing, try finding that today.
Sure is Kevin.
Yup.
She was a starving student in college. Her roommate said let’s go downtown on thanksgiving or Christmas and sing and try to make some money.
A record producers son saw them and gave his dads business card to Tracy.
In a Cambridge Subway
Proof that not being blonde and blue eyes isn't prejudice to real talent winning
@@aatikahcarmenhappy3494 Talent prevails, no matter the race. :)
Aatikah Carmen happy ...........wow that’s so racist, while I was growing up, born in 1955 we never had racism where I lived. I had black freinds but never had to think about their colour. These days everybody is racist. I am as white as they come and never knew racism until these leftwing SJWs and white wasters brought it up to get control the black and coloured people to ‘get’ their votes. Stop thinking about racism to stop being racist.
@@hangxiaohuz748
I was born 10 years later in 1965. I have never seen race relations so bad in my life, and things were fairly turbulent in my childhood.....but nothing like they are now! I don't understand it. I have my theories, though.
3 decades later. Still gives me goosebumps. It’s timeless!
Tears ... every time. Ugh this song gets too me so much. So beautiful
Song is so sad. Wow-so many children living with alcoholic parents:(. Bless the children.
When this came out I found myself crying without knowing it. It resonated with me on a deep soul level. That sums up Tracy.
I could not agree more. Even at the younger age I was when I first heard this, I understood what it was to be trapped in poverty's gaze. It was hope and hopelessness all at once.
Yes, indeed.
Me too.
I love her singing "give me one reason". I too really love her voice...
Church...!
Exactly it’s a must hear
Talking about A Revolution is my favorite
My ABSOLUTE favorite song on the planet. It came on the radio years ago on my way to ask my dad if I could come back home. It's brilliance to me personally is that she sings everything that I was thinking when I left home. The last thing my dad said is "You'll be back". I failed. I had to go back. Hung my head in shame. All these years later, and after losing Pop, I thank my him for never saying "Don't come back". Dads are usually right. Mine let me go to fly on my own. And he hugged me so tight after coming back. Not once said I told ya so.
I heard her live with Eric Clapton
Her "Give Me One Reason" song is also AMAZING: I highly recommend it if you haven't already covered it! ☺️
Yes love give me one reason -great song
There was a point where I was walking down my street in San Francisco and EVERYONE was playing this song. It was coming out of all the houses on my block!
It’s so cute you’re just hearing it. Now listen hard to the lyrics.
DS9Sisko perhaps he listened to it and had a different interpretation of it than you? That’s the joy of music, it means something different to everyone. Stop being so judgemental, it’s not needed
Great song it reminds me of my father....
@@fortunax22 US Americans are conditioned to believe in "The American Dream", that's not his fault.
But he wants to listen more and more, so might get it, in time.
I’ve heard this a million times and I’m still out here crying in the club rn
Talkin” “ bout a revolution by Tracy Chapman
Is one of my favourites
Damn, chills just ran through my body. Its a damn shame how artist like this are suppressed now a days.
This song is heartbreaking... about dreams and broken dreams...
Tracy Chapman is so unique in style, timeless songs, a brilliant artist.
You have to hear her song “baby can I hold you” it’s one of her most amazing songs!! I just love ❤️ it !!
Thank you for reminding me about this song. ❤️ It's my next stop on yt.
Oh yes! I loved that song!
Great song, and the 'Boyzone' cover of it was fairly decent too!
One of my all time favs!!
One of my faves 🤩
It's a sad song actually. She's singing about her aspirations of a better life. To get away from the rot that she's in.
But the last verse is her telling the fast car driver to make a decision, grow up, or get out. I can see how the slow but sure grind of the single parent family, alcoholic father, leaving school, jumping from minimum wage job to minimum wage job and ending up with a partner who is a complete deadbeat is sad.
But some people will see her ultimatum at the end as her making a stand. Taking control and trying to do something. And those people who hear that message are so lucky. I think that this is one of those truly breathtaking songs that is shaped by the listener as much as the singer - and that's entirely down to her writing.
She came across as so incredibly humble and down-to-earth. Someone most could relate to.
One of my favorites; such a haunting, exquisite voice. Bittersweet. It came out at a time my daughter was in a bad relationship (in a shelter etc) The lyrics are so honest & raw. It always makes me well up. Great pick!
Had forgotten how sad this song was. Cried, once again.
Is it sad or hopeful?
@@brucecoleman5379 It's sad because their hope finds no resolution. At least up to that point, their hope had found no resolution. It's the plight of most people on this planet. Those of us fortunate enough to live with "normal" comforts are actually living exceptional lives compared to many. Just the fact that we can converse in this manner using a computer: It shows our privilege.
@@brucecoleman5379 It is sad. Because by the end of the song, she realises that her dreams of a better life aren't going to happen. She sacrificed herself while caring for her father in the beginning, and now she has to sacrifice herself caring for her children. She encourages the father to ... fly away, or live and die this way. She has given up all hope.
I just had to watch someone who has never heard this song react. Over 30 years old.
This song gets me emotional. My best friend that passed away 3yrs ago, used to sing it a lot. He was goofy and always busted out in random songs.
Music can touch the deepest places in our hearts whether we like it or not. My friend committed suicide 12 years ago and his favorite song still makes me cry and it’s not even sad. Music is so powerful 💚 I’m sorry for your loss. It’s terrible to lose a friend.
She is so amazing! I've loved her since day 1 and feel she's so underrated. Tracy is heart and soul.
All that you have is your soul. Best song ever written. So very inspiring.
It's a beautiful tune, beautiful singing and the lyrics are a series of gut punching realities about dreams and trying to "be someone, be someone"; it never fails to bring an honest tear to my eye. I like that you want to listen to it again and more and more ... you should; and hopefully you'll get that same tear in your eye.
donald dunlop Me too. 😭
Nailed it. Perfectly said
I am not crying. Ok maybe I am
So glad you said that. I thought I was the only one that teared up everytime I heard it. She was let down by so many people she should've been able to count on, but she keeps on going...surviving.
Sorry man- but this is not a “feel good” song. This is a “make you weep with the depth of the truth in it” song.
I shed a tear hearing.
It kinda is a feel good song, its aspiring to get a better life and how it would happen and what it could be like.
Ain't nothing wrong with truth!
@@welshman100 True, but then it hits you with the last part, where she's still stuck in the same place because of her now-deadbeat husband. It's sad af, but if there are people who can take the good out of it and aspire to get out of their own rut, I can see how it could be a feel-good song.
people react to songs differently than others. it can be a sad song, but he feels good listening to it and you should let him. you can weep, he can nod along and smile
When it catches me off guard, I get tears in my eyes. It’s hard to run from your past. That’s what I hear in the song.
I'm a grown ass man and this song makes me cry
Emotional indeed. Tracy is a legend in my book.
Actually you can run from your past with one exception... If you have some type of illness.
I love her songs so much but I can't listen to them a lot, they hit me way too hard.
Same 😥
The most amazing thing about this song is just how far ahead of its time it was. Recorded in 1987, it sounds right at home in the 90s, at any point of the decade.
Try Sinead O’Connor- “Nothing compares to you”. Never has raw emotion been displayed as genuinely in a video.
Sinead O'Connor's entire first Lion and the Cobra album is a masterpiece. Troy is one of my favorites.
Man 4 sure! Nothing compares to you by Sinead O'Connor
@@andrewvam then listen to the ORIGINAL BY THE ONE AND ONLY PRINCE " RIP"
Prince wrote Nothing Compares 2 U. His is amazing.. Durh, Prince. Sinead's rendition left my heart in the floor.
I remember when my brother said to me, “Song of the year, album of the year. Just wait.” And when the Grammys came along he was right. She’s a genius.
Are you kidding me..... first time hearing this song.... y’all have got to start exploring more music
Kiara Banks hmm isn’t that exactly what he’s doing here? 😂
Nick Gibbs yeah but Tracy Chapman isn’t some undiscovered artist that only a handful of people know about... I mean sheesh her music is still played on the radio... 😂 That’s like people saying they don’t know about A Tribe Called Quest
@@kiarabanks6123 we're glad that you know the song...let him enjoy this moment...its a beautiful and eloquent song with heart ...too many people judging because of him not know the song...he's young...
Literally he must have never listened to the radio growing up. Impossible
wtf is A Tribe Called Quest.
Love seeing these young folks hearing these masterpieces for first time
This penetrates the heart and soul..the hope,pain,suffering is palpable
I’ve been listening to this song for 20 years and it never feels old. Such good songwriting. What a great voice.❤️
This song is definitely about expectations vs reality
No cursing. No nudity. No flashy cars. No shitty lyrics. Just pure talent. Does anybody still do that now?
badlongon She doesn’t get the recognition that she deserves. I guess it’s partially because of the sociopolitical nature of some of her songs and partially because she is different. She doesn’t fit the industry’s definition of what is considered beautiful and she doesn’t walk around with her ass or tits hanging out. Smh.
Modern jazz music never sold out to the money pimps. Disco, what is called country, and rap music do so on a daily basis, and they do so with pride.
Sad but true.
Yes, but it's rare. Check out First Aid Kit.
Just a fast car and you keep on driving
Sadness aside, the beginning of the chorus feels like flying. Great song to listen to while driving on a nice winding road with the windows down.
She is an amazing artist. I remember when it came out, it brought tears to my eyes. Love the song
I told my husband to take his fast car and keep on driving. This song inspired me. I was 16.
I love the vibrato in her voice when she says "I" too!
Baby Can I Hold You Tonight is another great Tracy song. Btw, she plays the guitar you enjoyed so much.
Di B That is one of my all-time favorites. Love that one!
I love that song so much.
Di B I love this song too 🌸
I thought she is a guy
@@jisookruzat Apparently you are not singular in your assessment. I have never thought of her as male, or even thought beyond simply enjoying her beautiful essence, talent, and incredible smile. She's a gift. If you are new to her, there is much music to enjoy. She is deeply respected in the industry and has some great collaborations as well. : )
I always wanted to make a movie about this song. Call it: "I had a feeling I could be someone"
What about just "Be Someone".
You just brought back so many memories and those lyrics are devastating!.😪😪 thanks ✌❤
Haven't heard this in a long time and I am in tears. Been there done that.
I love this woman and all of her music.This is a classic and I believe Tracy is one of the greatest of all times!
Oh, man, this brings tears to my heart - every time. Poignant. The video is also perfect.
She is AWESOME! My kids hid her discs on me twice, they made me dance/cry and sing. They said it broke their hearts the sadness. I love her.
I listened to this song about thousands of times in the 90s! It never gets old.
How did he make it to 2019 and have never heard of Tracy Chapman or heard this song???
If he was born in 2000, it's possible. He has this special opportunity now. It's how I discovered 70s albums on the 80s and 90s
Can t believe people still discover Tracy… she is a gem like few others , this album is in my all time top 5 every day
I agree with Jan. "Give me one reason" is mesmerizing. She was so shy when she first became well-known. Something rare.
This is the song of my dog, he loved it! he died in my arms 2014, since then i did not listening to it again. Now im just crying a river...
One of my Top 10...u Need to hear Terrance Trent Darby's "Wishing Well" you won't Regret it!!
Or Sign your Name..
Loved that song. I haven't heard it for a long time. So good.
Her live performance of 'Revolution' is stunning...I think it was her Live Aid Perfomance at Wembley Stadium.
Actually, Edit - everything Tracey sings is stunning ♡
I would love to hear this for the first time again....even after all these years it still makes my eyes well up 😢 just stop everything & listen
That is all her and no auto tune what so ever she has real soul unlike these so called singers of this gen
I believe there are still many singer songwriters just as (well almost) as good out there today. No music studios are promoting them unfortunately. We probably will never here them.
@@brianbarnett1004 true there out there but will never hear them to much auto tune in the way
Ok boomer
@@divyansh2023 You're so clever!
@@LG123ABC I mean I could also give them a logical explanation and a list of very talented artists who are still releasing extremely well crafted albums but everyone knows that they will stick to their opinions so why bother
I like her voice she has a cool voice very talented give me a reason is another one👍
Every now and then an artist comes along with a distinct vision and sound that is solely their own Bob Dillon Jim Croce Jewel and Tracy Chapman.
This song is poetry and the lyrics are powerful.
Love this song, can’t believe that he hasn’t hear her song. But he is young! Ok.
Young is not an excuse, maybe he doesn't hear music much or simply hears the same music
ya im younger than him im pretty sure and have heard this song so no excuse lol
well, hearing certain music also has to do with how/where you're raised.
So nice to see young people finding the quality "old" stuff.
My father passed last month. I met him 30 years ago, this was his favorite song.
This song always makes me cry. It's so sweet and sad. There's the protagonist who is optomistic and in love with a pessimist. And in the end she has to just cut her losses. 😭
Never get tired of hearing this song!
Try listening to Joan Armatrading Love and Affection. She was so under rated too.
I love "The Weakness in Me" even more. That song knocks me out every time.
Both great songs 💜
Absolutely so amazing
Diane _ yes it’s a beautiful song, I’ve just finished listening to it😎
Kedron Marsh 😀
She is an AMAZING artist- I don't know where she has been . I LOVED her!
Tracy Chapman was living on the streets when she put out her first hit.
Think about that.
Wait a sec. She did grow up poor but she went to Tufts University for Anthropology then got signed to Elekra Records after graduation. Her biography failed to mention her time living on the streets...she performed in plazas and coffee shops but I think that's it.
Her song Crossroads is amazing too.
Where is the proof of your statement?
What a voice. You don't really expect this song to hit you when it first starts, but as she sings the story it starts hitting your soul.
So, I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder
And I, I, I had a feeling that I belonged
I, I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
Those are hard hitting lyrics and her voice effortlessly brings the emotion to them.
This one always helps me cry. Reminds me of my dad, the guys I dated to run away from reality, and then my dad's cancer and that I quit working at a school to take care of him. And then "I had a feeling I belonged. I had a feeling I could be someone..." for when my dad finally started being a dad to me.
Listen to “The Promise”, it is such a beautiful, special song, you can’t help but feel something when TC performs that one.
That song got me through some tough times.
A beautiful song ❤️ reminds me a someone
Yes. You said the name right. Your reaction was pretty much exactly my reaction when I first heard that song. And that was so many years ago. Her words and her melodies in her songs are captivating. I can always listen to her.
I was a kid when that song came out ohhh how the time flys.
I was just thinking this 😩😩
I hear that!
One of the most heartbreaking songs ever 💔 I love Tracy. Great reaction!
When I was little kid, I remember hearing this on the radio. I really liked the song but I called Tracy a him. My mom corrected me and she said that this was actually a girl. Right after she said that, the "I work at the market as a checkout girl" line was said. I remember being in total shock.