Tracy Chapman

TRACY CHAPMAN

As I sat down to write this post, I had no idea where to begin. So I pulled up Itunes and clicked shuffle.  One of the first songs to come up was “Change” by Tracy Chapman. I realized that although I have a lot of her music, I don’t know much about her as an artist.  Her self-titled debut album, released in 1988, was known for its strong liberal views. She became a public supporter of civil liberties, minority rights, gender equality, and sexual freedom. One of the more famous songs from the album, “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution,” had some very notable lyrics relating to the high unemployment rate at the time the song was released.  

For her second album, Tracy took a much stronger stance on her views of civil liberties. In her song “Crossroads,” she repeatedly says, ”You think you think own my life.” She’s basically saying she’s tired of being told what to think and do. She’s allowed to have her own opinions and make her own decisions.

One of her more recent albums, “Where you live,” Tracy Chapman took a much less forward stance than her previous records. In a press release from Atlantic Records, all Tracy said about the album was this, "All the songs seemed to reference this idea of where you live," Chapman explains. 'In some songs, the reference is to a physical place and environment -- where you live physically in the world. In some of the other songs, the reference is to a state of mind; where you live in your head and in your heart. I'd say there's even a song or two that addresses how you think about yourself in relation to the universe. That's how the title of the record came to be."

Her song “Change” is without a doubt my favorite from the album. However, I believe there is more meaning behind the song other than just “where you live.”  With all of the wars and controversy in the world today, I think this song is kind of asking everyone involved a real simple question, “Why?” Throughout the song she asks, “If you knew that you would die today, would you change?” I think that almost everyone would say they’d change, because they know that there is always something more that they can do to make the world a better place. So then, Why don’t we do more? Why don’t we stop the wars? Why can’t we all just get along? 

And just because this is a really good song.....  :)