Welcome to the New York Times Pop Gas, your bigger house in the suburbs.

Of music, news and criticism, I'm your host John Caramonica.

You and me fine.

They've got no plans that ain't going nowhere.

So take your fast car and keep on driving.

You all know what that is.

That is Fast Car.

Tracy Chapman, the original.

Luke Combs, of course, covered that song last year, became a very, very big hit,

and a couple weeks ago on the Grammys, Luke played it with Tracy Chapman,

the rare good example of a Gram's moment of a cross genre, cross

generational performance that reveals something about both participants.

If you've been listening to podcast,

you know we've talked about the Luke Holmes version,

which doesn't add a lot to the Tracy Chapman version,

that's probably for the best

because the Tracy Chapman version is about as indelible a vocal performance as I think you could have her version of Fastcar is one of the defining songs in the late 80s.

It led to a whole number of accolades. She won

Grammys in 89 and also was successful enough she released a few albums

subsequently but successful enough to retreat from the limelight and still be

loved and revered for at minimum this one thing.

In the course of thinking about Tracey Chapman in

...