Tracy Chapman Online! The Washington Post article raised/feasted on some poignant issues about equity but fell short.
Personally made me nauseous by seemingly outing her when she has according to the article expressly chosen to be private about her personal life. Maybe I am late in the game but that is how I felt. Would have been okay with it and celebrated if it had came from her words though, but I respect her choice not to even if the article didn't.
Overall I am in awe of Tracy Chapmans graciousness, poise and tact even while being firm in the face of slights, indignities and fickle crowds and late recognition. Her character speaks volumes.
There are several house/dance/electronic/reggae remixes and edits by Djs of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" that I really like on Youtube Music including DJs Chriswell, Manic Focus, Tailors, Lev Tatarov, GK, Martin Appez, Gus Monzon, Giuse, and Alexy.
Thank you for your kind words about my work, your insightful comment, and the sincerity with which you shared your point of view. You are the first person to publicly comment on this newsletter, so thank you for that!
Regarding that WP article, personally, it wasn't so much the fact that it outed Tracy that bothered me (I go into this a bit more below) but rather that the debate raised isn't really one. Tracy would never have been classified in the country music charts by herself simply because she doesn't make country music! Just like we don't expect her in the R&B, Rap, or classical music charts! And then also she cares so little about these considerations anyway. Her presence in the charts = spotlight on her, and if she can avoid it, she prefers. She's clearly proven that this last decade!
But let's get back to the outing: I agree, it's very clumsy and inappropriate. However, while Tracy doesn't make a public coming out, she also doesn't live a reclusive life and doesn't at all hide the people she shares her life with when she attends social and cultural events, moments where she is in public representation (celebrity and/or charity dinners/cocktails, artistic festivals, TV shows...). On the contrary, she even poses in front of photographers holding their hand. BUT what she doesn't do is talk about it publicly to the press or even clearly mention it in her songs. Maybe she's right in a way. If she did, the press would just mention it, and it might prejudice the universal part of the message conveyed in her art. If we look at the media treatment of Melissa Etheridge, KD Lang, Tegan and Sara... maybe it deprived them of a "bigger" career (in terms of sales) but maybe also their impact on the LGBTQIA+ community is/was greater thanks to it... We'll probably never know.
And thank you for the names of the artists who remixed "Fast Car," I'm going to have a listen on YouTube!
Im really grateful for your writings in these articles, the instagram page online and this welcoming substack space. Thank you for curating this. Peace and respect
Quanto mi piacerebbe che tornassi in Italia. Ascolto spesso la tua musica che mi accompagna da quando avevo 15 anni, ho conosciuto, pianto, sorriso grazie alla tua musica.
Tracy Chapman Online! The Washington Post article raised/feasted on some poignant issues about equity but fell short.
Personally made me nauseous by seemingly outing her when she has according to the article expressly chosen to be private about her personal life. Maybe I am late in the game but that is how I felt. Would have been okay with it and celebrated if it had came from her words though, but I respect her choice not to even if the article didn't.
Overall I am in awe of Tracy Chapmans graciousness, poise and tact even while being firm in the face of slights, indignities and fickle crowds and late recognition. Her character speaks volumes.
There are several house/dance/electronic/reggae remixes and edits by Djs of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" that I really like on Youtube Music including DJs Chriswell, Manic Focus, Tailors, Lev Tatarov, GK, Martin Appez, Gus Monzon, Giuse, and Alexy.
Thank you for your kind words about my work, your insightful comment, and the sincerity with which you shared your point of view. You are the first person to publicly comment on this newsletter, so thank you for that!
Regarding that WP article, personally, it wasn't so much the fact that it outed Tracy that bothered me (I go into this a bit more below) but rather that the debate raised isn't really one. Tracy would never have been classified in the country music charts by herself simply because she doesn't make country music! Just like we don't expect her in the R&B, Rap, or classical music charts! And then also she cares so little about these considerations anyway. Her presence in the charts = spotlight on her, and if she can avoid it, she prefers. She's clearly proven that this last decade!
But let's get back to the outing: I agree, it's very clumsy and inappropriate. However, while Tracy doesn't make a public coming out, she also doesn't live a reclusive life and doesn't at all hide the people she shares her life with when she attends social and cultural events, moments where she is in public representation (celebrity and/or charity dinners/cocktails, artistic festivals, TV shows...). On the contrary, she even poses in front of photographers holding their hand. BUT what she doesn't do is talk about it publicly to the press or even clearly mention it in her songs. Maybe she's right in a way. If she did, the press would just mention it, and it might prejudice the universal part of the message conveyed in her art. If we look at the media treatment of Melissa Etheridge, KD Lang, Tegan and Sara... maybe it deprived them of a "bigger" career (in terms of sales) but maybe also their impact on the LGBTQIA+ community is/was greater thanks to it... We'll probably never know.
And thank you for the names of the artists who remixed "Fast Car," I'm going to have a listen on YouTube!
Im really grateful for your writings in these articles, the instagram page online and this welcoming substack space. Thank you for curating this. Peace and respect
Quanto mi piacerebbe che tornassi in Italia. Ascolto spesso la tua musica che mi accompagna da quando avevo 15 anni, ho conosciuto, pianto, sorriso grazie alla tua musica.
My number one singer