Ebony and Irony
“Stunning performance, amazing performance”. I kept reading that about Luke and Tracy on the Grammys. NYT: “A rare gift: harmony”.
I didn’t watch the show, so it took till today to find a copy of the full performance.
When Combs’ cover was initially released, I was puzzled by the buzz. “Fast Car” is an excellent song, from an internationally successful album that won a Grammy. Well worth covering, but … big shoes.
I’ve always thought covering a song obligated the artist to bring something new to it, or at least shine a brighter light on the original’s best features. (A regular person might say “Makes it their own.”)
Otherwise, one is a human jukebox and while that can get you good-paying bar gigs, it feels the same as hearing it on the radio.
Chapman’s performance style has always been reserved, and precise. She is a warm, strong, talented presence. But she’s not dancing around.
An “awesome performance”, though, that’s something else. I was judging people. Do they not understand “awesome”, “performance”? How to tell what’s good, or how to describe it.
Still. Made me look, just so I could tell you how wrong you were. Well done.
I’ve never seen Luke Combs perform live, even on screen, until today.
I thought maybe he would bring something new live; quite common. Maybe Chapman had some new way she wanted to try it, maybe her own performance style had evolved.
Someone even mentioned their “great duet” and, I love me some adventurous vocal arrangements.
So I watched. Put it on the good Bluetooth speaker. (You can pay me to name it.)
He watched her like a hawk. They seemed to like each other. In fact, they almost seemed like people who had a secret.
And it was a careful, precise, exact replica of both her original and his recorded cover. They sang together, in unison. He mouthed words in a couple places just to make sure he stayed right with her.
Not a cover but a perfect copy.
And then I remembered why i started writing my own songs in the first place. Not because I thought I could do them better, or because I hate money.
Because learning to do something just like someone else is really hard and not fun. It was a helluva lotta work to produce that exactly - exactly - the way she did it. Down to being willing to be a checkout girl. So what did Combs bring to it?
Nothing. He brought nothing to it.
If he’d added one thing, the story would be different.
I felt kinda stupid when it dawned.
People are still suggesting Alanis Morrissette didn’t understand what “ironic” meant.
Back when “Ironic” was new I often had to defend my “wacky idealism” for suggesting that the song is ironic af; the only thing more ironic is the suggestion that it’s not.
Chapman got quite a lot of recognition for that fantastic album when it came out. Her success at the time was an inspiration to a whole lot of singer songwriters.
She sold records, won awards, made money. Just not in country music.
Luke Combs brought country music Tracy Chapman. He brought Tracy Chapman country music.
There are plenty of articles about country and color. Lionel Richie pretending to like synthesizers, Otis Redding called “R & B”. It’s only been a few years since people called our local country station and asked them not to play Darius Rucker’s cover of “Wagon Wheel”.
It was, in fact, an amazing performance. Actual performance art. A meme, in the form of a song.
“If a white man did the exact same song the exact same way it would be a #1 country hit.”
Right there in black and white.
Isn’t it ironic?
