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Logan Case

Professor Strehle

English 1201.509

8 February 2019

“Fast Car”

“You got a fast car” are famous lyrics to a song that many people are familiar

with. Originally released in 1988, “Fast Car” is a song by Tracey Chapman. The song is about a

couple who want to drive away in a fast car and make a life for themselves. However, they have

challenges along the way. The original music video shows Chapman singing with emotion over a

beautiful guitar melody. The song was remade in 2015 by Jonas Blue. This version of the song

has the exact same lyrics but it’s sung over a dance beat. The video by Jonas Blue contains many

different characters and has a much more in-depth meaning than the original. The video contains

beautiful, vibrant visuals that are fun to watch. The two versions of the song “Fast Car” have

identical lyrics but the music and images that go along with the two versions are far from

identical. Tracey Chapman’s version has been made new by Jonas Blue to appeal to a younger

audience.

         In Tracey Chapman’s version of “Fast Car,” he uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s

emotions. In the video, he is the main character. He is shown singing the song with real emotion

on his face. The audience gets the feeling that he is really feeling what he is singing about. The

song lyrics make the viewer remember a time when they were young, in love, hopeful, and

adventurous. The video shows glimpses of different pictures that go along with the lyrics in the

video. For example, it shows a picture of a man holding a liquor bottle while Chapman sings,

“You see my old man’s got a problem. He live with the bottle that’s the way it is.” The video
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represents exactly what Chapman is singing about and it makes the audience able to comprehend

the message easier. The video has a dark look to it. There aren’t many bright colors and it isn’t

very appealing to the eye. It gives the feeling of a sad song. As Chapman is singing, you can see

his face but the rest of his body looks like a shadow. Overall, the video is simple and it gets the

message across to its audience.

         In Jonas Blue’s version of “Fast Car” pathos is also used to appeal to the emotions.

Instead of the lyrics and music feeling sad, the story that is acted out in the video is what touches

the emotions of the audience. In the video, a girl is shown riding a dirt bike through a town in the

desert. She rides by a group of men who work at a store and a group of men on horses. The

horsemen are shown chasing the girl through the dessert. One of the men catches up to the girl

and they are shown falling in love. After a while, the men who work at the store steal the man

that the girl is in love with and turn him into a worker. When the girl sees that this has happened,

she has a heartbroken, betrayed look on her face. She then walks outside and the man follows her

and they take one last ride together through the desert. The story that is shown in the video is

much more complex than that of the original by Chapman. It shows young people being

adventurous and having fun. The young people watching the video can relate to the feeling of

being in love at a young age. It is also a colorful video that is fun to watch. The fun, bright colors

make it look more modern. Instead of feeling sad, the video is upbeat and has a happy feeling to

it. The upbeat music makes the video appeal to a younger audience because of its pop elements.

         The many differences between the videos are what makes them both appeal to different

audiences. Tracey Chapman’s video is simple with the main focus on him and the lyrics. It is a

dark video with no bright, playful colors. The song was also made in the 1980s, so it has

traditional guitar and drums in the song. Jonas Blue’s video has a deeper, more complex story
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about two people who meet and fall in love. It is full of young people doing things like riding dirt

bikes and horses. The video is appealing and full of bright colors. The song is much more upbeat

and typical sounding for the younger generations. Even though the videos are different, there are

also a few similarities. The lyrics of both songs are identical and relay the same message to the

audience. Both songs also are focused around being in love and problems that can occur in the

process. The music of both songs also sounds similar, but the Jonas Blue version has a pop twist

on it.

         Some could make the argument that the audience of the two versions can be of any age.

This is true but it is more likely for people who experienced the original video to prefer the

Tracey Chapman version over the Jonas Blue version. The Jonas Blue version is also an upbeat

remix that some older people may not enjoy. The Jonas Blue version is modern and fun just like

most, pop music. There are many people who aren’t fans of remixes. Changing an original song

that is loved can be something that people don’t like. It’s hard for a pop song to have emotion

and sound sad because of the upbeat, happy tempo. Both versions have the same message and the

main focus is around the love between two people. The difference is that the music and the

images that go along with the songs appeal to different audiences.

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Works Cited

Tracey Chapman. Fast Car. YouTube, YouTube. 2016,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOAlaACuv4. Accessed 5 February 2020.

Jonas Blue. Fast Car. YouTube, YouTube. 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpuR68uw-8. Accessed 5 February 2020.