My 16th Favorite Song of All-Time

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…and my 16th favorite song of all-time is:

“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman

To me, few songs simply drip with emotion in the way that “Fast Car” does.  While the narrator’s story is something completely unlike my own, I have no problem imagining my life having taken a similar course.  Chapman’s narrator has lived a difficult life, and she tells of it in straight-forward fashion, but nuances in the lyrics tell of an immense sorrow just below the surface, an aching for relief, an interminable wait for life to come into sharp focus.  A perfectly crafted song.