Tracy Chapman's latest album, Matters of the Heart (Elektra, 1992), is pretty good. Ten folksy tunes with some justice-for-the-underdog lyrics and beautiful, delicate guitar work. All in all, very Tracy Chapmanish. (That's the good thing about Tracy Chapman - she does Tracy Chapman so well.)
Not that it is a great album (cassette, CD, DAT, whatever you're working with). Some lyrics can be agonizingly unsubtle (to the point of ineffectiveness), and Chapman's incredible voice occasionally drags and loses its edge. Some of her songs have a definite deja-vu quality to them: Wait a minute...haven't I heard this angry tune about out-of-touch, amoral, and greedy capitalists before?
"Bang Bang Bang" (subtitled "Song for little man") should garner some attention in light of the events in Los Angeles. It's a plain-worded tune about the hopeless situation in the inner city and the country's joint responsibility: "If he preys only on his neighbors/Brothers sisters and friends/We'll consider it a favor/We'll consider justice done/But if he comes for you or me/And we can place a gun in his hand/Bang bang bang/We'll shoot him dead."
There are a couple of depressing but well-done songs about romance gone bad: "The Love That You Had," which is probably the best song in the collection, and "Matters of the Heart," which seems to go on forever, Chapman's voice soaring, crashing, and melding with the lyrics.
"If These Are the Things" seems to be her most autobiographical work thus far: "I only have nightmares/Wake up in a cold sweat/Have I become as corrupt/As all I abhor/Why don't I dream anymore." It's sad and haunting, only to be followed by another cause-of-the-week song, "Short Supply," with a boppy sound and Greenpeace lyrics ("Where are all the grassy hilltops/Clean air to breathe/Pure water to drink of/Beautiful sights to see?").
Chapman wrote every song, and co-produced them with Jimmy Iovine, except for "Woman's Work," which Chapman produced on her own. The acoustic simplicity of Chapman's first album has snuck away, replaced by a smooth, multilevel sound of electric guitars (Vernon Reid of Living Colour makes some guest appearances), bongo drums, and the occasional mandolin and accordion.
This third collection for Chapman is not the one that will surpass the impact and popularity of her debut work, but it is satisfying. Her courage to speak her piece about injustice and her willingness to share her emotions in such eloquent ways maintain Tracy Chapman's standing as one of today's important singer-songwriters.
Judy Coode is a former Sojourners intern who knows her music and films.
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