Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" takes a simple, Springsteenian plea for escape and uses it as a jumping-off point for a life's story. Sounds like a country song. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images hide caption
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Tracy Chapman
Paramore's Brand New Eyes and Tracy Chapman's Tracy Chapman are featured in our Records That Changed Our Lives series. Photo Illustration by Estefania Mitre/NPR/Getty Images hide caption
Records That Changed Our Lives: Finding hope in Tracy Chapman and 'Brand New Eyes'
Tracy Chapman's debut album "was the music that I needed at a time when I felt pressure to know everything before it was taught," says writer and scholar Francesca T. Royster. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images; Courtesy of Elektra Records hide caption
Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman performs in Carhaix-Plouguer, France, in 2006. Andre Durand/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
John Lennon (by Steve Morley), Tracy Chapman (by Bryan Bedder), Simon & Garfunkel (by David Redfern) Getty Images hide caption
Tracy Chapman performs on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Nov. 2, 2020. Screenshot by NPR hide caption
Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption
Tracy Chapman, shown here at the 39th Grammy Awards, is included in our starter kit for women's music. Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was released on Oct. 18, 1988. Courtesy of Wilbury hide caption
Etta James, left, Marvell Thomas and David Hood rehearse a song before recording at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., circa 1967. House Of Fame LLC/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images hide caption
Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut album was released on April 5, 1988. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Clockwise from upper left: Sleigh Bells, Blood Orange, Mind Spiders, James Vincent McMorrow Courtesy of the artists hide caption