Fast Car Lyrics

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  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

“Fast Car” is a song by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released in April 1988 as the lead single from her self-titled debut album. Her appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was the catalyst for the song’s becoming a top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100, and a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 4 on the charts.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Tracy Chapman say about "Fast Car"?
Genius Answer

“Fast Car" was the song that was played on the radio so it was something that turned out to take a significant role in shaping my first record and probably the public perception of me as a singer-songwriter who is writing about stories, songs which tell stories about peoples’ lives and very generally represents the world that I saw it when I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, coming from a working-class background. In part everything that a person writes is autobiographical but the songs are directly so and most of them were not, and “Fast Car” wasn’t one that was directly autobiographical. I never had a fast car, it’s just a story about a couple, how they are trying to make a life together and they face challenges. I had so many people come up to me and say that they felt it was their song and someone told me at one point that they thought I’ve been reading their mail, they were saying, ‘You seem to know my story,’ and people would come up and tell me about a car relationship and some detail that they felt was in the song that represented something that happened in their lives.

– Tracy Chapman via Unmask

What has the media said about the song?
Genius Answer

In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked this as the #167th greatest song of all time, saying:

Tracy Chapman was a hardened veteran of Boston coffeehouse gigs (she once got a demo-tape rejection letter suggesting she tune her guitar) when a classmate at Tufts University told his music-publisher dad to check her out. Soon after, she made her 1988 debut, featuring this haunting rumination on escape. “Fast Car” won a Grammy, setting Chapman’s career in motion.

Has "Fast Car" received any awards?
Genius Answer

Yes. On November 8, 2023 (35 years after the initial release of the song), “Fast Car” was given the Song of The Year award at the Country Music Awards.

Is there a live performance to this song?
Is she talking about her dad or husband?
How did the song perform commercially?
Credits
Written By
Performance Rights
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Mixing Engineer
Percussion
Electric Rhythm Guitar
Steel Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Engineer
Recorded At
Powertrax Studio, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Release Date
April 15, 1988
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