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Few performers target
the emotional solar plexus with precision like Tracy
Chapman. Catapulted to stardom in 1988 with her self-titled
debut, featuring still-riveting cuts like "Fast
Car" and "Talkin’ ’Bout a Revolution,"
she’s not entirely comfortable under the limelight.
She shrinks from the open-heart interviews and publicity
people tend to expect from the famous. She prefers to
pour herself into her work, producing a new album almost
yearly, including Let It Rain, her sixth and newest
album.
The music business
has changed since she first hit the scene, Chapman acknowledged.
"It’s so funny. I don’t know if I’d
call it the music business anymore. Now it’s
about creating an image and a product related to music."
She pauses to consider her words. "I think we’re
going to look back at this time and realize there’s
a lot we overlooked, not just in music but in other
arts."
Not that Chapman
lives under a rock. On the contrary, her songs have
always been equally conscious of the world as the corners
of the heart, all written with the same literate acuity.
Though known as a solo, acoustic artist, a small backup
band accompanies her on "Let It Rain." The
centerpiece of this album, however, as in all her albums,
is her succulent, dignified voice.
Let It Rain covers
the familiar territory of love, sorrow, loneliness,
and passion. The murky "In the Dark," and
the kicky "Hard Wired" could serve as the
album’s bookends, each critiquing the overheated
pop-culture machine.
"There have
been several interesting interpreta-tions of ‘In
the Dark,’" Chapman says. "It is using
light and dark as a metaphor, starting with the desire
to know and not know at the same time … that struggle
to be aware but not tainted."
"Hard Wired"
is more direct: "Your wants and desires/Needs and
wishes … Turned into sitcom dialog/And advertising
slogans."
That Chapman endures
in spite of her nearly direct opposition to what the
great media machine encourages is a testament to her
ability to cut through the muck and get at what’s
most human. Of course, Chapman is modest when explaining
her staying power.
"I’m
really lucky. Over the years I’ve managed to maintain
a devoted fan base, people who bought the first record
and stayed with me."
Tracy Chapman closes
her Let it Rain tour Saturday night, 8pm. Tickets $35,
469-SHOW. Joseph Arthur opens. - Belinda Acosta
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