CD Odyssey Disc 234: Tracy Chapman

The next review is proof that not every second album has a sophomore jinx.

Disc 234 is...Crossroads Artist: Tracy Chapman

Year of Release: 1989

What’s Up With The Cover?: Not much, but it sure is out of focus. I take photos of my covers, since it is often quicker than looking for one of suitable size on the net. I can usually get at least one good one out of the four or five I snap, but not so much here. Apart from the picture being fuzzy, I think it is just Tracy sitting on something flat (the beach? pavement?). Either way, she could probably use a pair of shoes. Or maybe she's like the bandit Cobra Verde, in Werner Herzog's movie of the same name, and she doesn't trust shoes not to betray her. But I digress...on with the review.

How I Came To Know It: I had bought her first album when it came out, and like it, so I went for this one when the chance came up. I originally owned this on tape, and eventually upgraded to CD when circumstances and payroll allowed. In fact, because my favourite songs on this record are the first three tracks on side one, and the last three tracks on side two, it was very well suited to tape. You could stop it half-way, flip it and just push play, avoiding any fast forwarding looking for that song you wanted to hear!

How It Stacks Up: I have four Tracy Chapman albums. This one is a very close second to her debut album. Although not as consistently strong, it is still a great record.

Rating: 4 stars. Following on Chapman's very raw and honest debut album, it would be natural to expect her to take a downturn on "Crossroads" but that doesn't happen. If anything, this record sees her taking new risks, adding in unexpected instruments, like those Caribbean steel drums and banjo.

I usually hate those steel drums (mostly because of a sub-par act that plays ad nauseum in my city's downtown core through every summer). However, Chapman wisely doesn't overdo it, and when she does put them in they are artfully in the mix, rather than treated like some attempt to falsely infuse world beat sounds. In short, she makes them novel, rather than a novelty. As for the banjo, who doesn't love the banjo? And if you don't, again, she works it into the sound, rather than having a bluegrass jamboree.

The album is a lot more up tempo than her first, but the songs are just as serious. Once again she covers her usual topics of political commentary ("Material World", "Subcity") and strained or broken relationships ("A Hundred Years", "This Time").

However, I think this album is at its best when Chapman grapples with issues of staying true to yourself despite the many internal and external pressures we face each day. I expect this theme came naturally to her in the wake of being catapulted from obscurity to massive pop star in the space of a few months.

The first and title track, "Crossroads" is an excellent expression of Chapman feeling pressure to be a certain type of artist. It ends with just the right blend of uncertainty, which itself is then partially dispelled with an affirmation that finds its core strength in rebellion:

"Standing at the point

The road it cross you down

What is at your back?

Which way do you turn?

Who will come and find you first

Your devils or your gods?

"All you folks think you run my life

Say I should be willing to compromise

I say all you demons go back to hell

I'll save my soul save myself."

The album ends with the same theme of staying true to yourself with "All That You Have Is Your Soul". The difference is that where "Crossroads" is about external pressures, "All That You Have Is Your Soul" focuses on the internal pressures, and how true character comes from within. The chorus exhorts us as follows:

"Don't be tempted by the shiny apple

Don't you eat of a bitter fruit

Hunger only for a taste of justice

Hunger only for a world of truth

'Cause all that you have is your soul"

A strictly literal listen to the rest of this song would lead you to think of desperate welfare mothers giving birth to unwanted children, but I almost never think of it that way when I hear it. The theme of living an upright life as described in the lyrics above is simply too universal.

It is a book end musically to "Crossroads" as well. Where "Crossroads" is filled with steel drum and instrumentation, "All That You Have Is Your Soul" is dressed down to guitar and just the smallest tinkle of a piano flourish. It always reminds me of a saying I'm fond of, "true beauty steals into only the quietest souls."

This song has been there for me so often through my life, always reminding me to try a little harder. As recently as this morning on my drive to work, it caught me in the midst of an unkind thought, and mellowed me, made me see the world a bit more like that character in Princess Mononoke, "with eyes unclouded by hate." As ever, this is a work in progress, but having a theme song help you along is a nice advantage.

Emmylou Harris recently did a passable remake of this song on her album "All I Intended To Be" but for me, nothing stands up to the original, and if Emmylou can't outdo you, then you can't be outdone.

This album never had commercial success, and it is a pity, because it is a solid piece of work from an uncompromising artist.

Best tracks: Crossroads, Bridges, Freedom Now, A Hundred Years, This Time, All That You Have Is Your Soul