50 Tracy Chapman “Open Arms”

Tracy Chapman should not need an introduction, but I recently talked to a someone who didn’t know who Little Richard was and I will never let them forget it. 

I first encountered Tracy Chapman when her song “Fast Car” was on the alternative radio stations and it had an impact on me on first listen. I know it seems like a lot of songs on this list share that feature, but it’s a rare one for me in general. I ran out and bought the cassette and listened to the whole thing. What did I just buy? I knew I liked “Fast Car” and I knew there was something in the message of her songs that resonated with me. She may have been the first artist I didn’t know I was looking for that actually had something important to sing about. I also knew I wasn’t quite ready for it. I had to approach the rest of the album like I was studying for something and I was determined to get it. And eventually I did. 

And eventually I skipped her next album because that first one was a lot of work. Somehow I ended up with a copy of her album Matters of the Heart and enough time had passed that I was ready to dive in again. It wasn’t nearly as hard as the first one, and that original difficulty was probably nothing more than the result of my being probably around middle school age for that first album. Let’s face it, no one thinks straight in middle school. 

I eventually saw Tracy Chapman at Pier 6 in Baltimore, the day after I had seen Duran Duran at that same location. They were very different experiences and the best thing about seeing her live was that the audience sat and listened as opposed to standing and dancing around the whole time. It was wonderful, a chance to see and study her live. One of my favorite shows I’ve seen.