Luke Combs has revealed the lyrical error Tracy Chapman alerted him to in his hit remix of her song, “Fast Car.”
The country singer, 34, opened up about the mistake to his audience during a recent concert.
He explained that when he initially was recording his cover, he sang one of the final lines as “Still gotta make a decision.” However, when he spoke to Chapman, he learned the correct line was actually: “We gotta make a decision.”
“That was the first time that I knew I recorded the song incorrectly. It was her telling me that,” Combs said, as seen in videos captured by concertgoers. “Because I remember, when she said that, I wanted to crawl into a hole.”
However, Combs clarified that Chapman didn’t make him feel bad for making this mistake.
“Luckily, she was awesome about it. And I think about it every single time that I sing the song, and I will think about it every single time I sing this song for the rest of my whole life,” he continued. “But she was so cool about it.”
He explained he was going to correct himself during his live performance of the song.
“So the version you know is, ‘Still gotta make a decision.’ Not the words. It’s just not the words. I made that up in my head,” Combs added. “So tonight, I will probably sing, ‘We gotta make a decision.’ Because Tracy Chapman told me to, and dammit, I’m gonna do it.”
@andreagreenwood3 ♬ original sound - Andrea Greenwood
While Chapman’s tune was originally released in 1988, Combs’s cover of “Fast Car” won the award for Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards in 2023. Chapman was given her flowers at the event in Nashville, with presenter Sara Evans and country musician Bill Anderson reading a statement on her behalf.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t join you all tonight. It’s truly an honor for my song to be newly recognized after 35 years of its debut,” she wrote in the statement. “Thank you to the CMAs and a special thanks to Luke and all of the fans of ‘Fast Car.’”
The win made Chapman the first Black artist to take home the award for Song of the Year. In addition, “Fast Car” also earned Combs an award as his cover was named Single of the Year.
Combs first covered the song as the second single from his album Gettin’ Old, which came out in 2023. Giving Chapman’s song a second wind, the cover was also a smash hit on the radio and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 last year.
During the Grammy Awards in February, Combs also performed “Fast Car,” with Chapman joining him on stage.
