Our Bright Future

The autumn rains came early this year on an unexpected evening wind. Not the harsh rains and hurricane force winds of Dorian that battered the Bahamas and Atlantic coast as it moved slowly north. No, this was a coastal California rain, the kind that dampens the redwoods and signals the end of summer. Time to turn to Tracy to help me decide what to think.Here's how it works. I listen to Tracy sing and then respond in written form in some fashion. Today, I decided to write back to her in an Amazon review of her album, “Our Bright Future,” which I acquired nearly a decade ago and play at times like this, when the seasons are about to change unexpectedly.There are 11 tracks on this exquisite album, produced in 2008 in a Los Angeles recording studio by Tracy and Larry Klein, who plays electric and acoustic bass on the songs as well. 11 tracks. 11 chances to listen to Tracy tell me stories and prod me to think about unusual and precious things. Things like love and loss, and the enduring quality of spirit. A chance to blend history with autobiography and break down the walls that separate objective reality from the subjectively lived life. 11 opportunities to respond spontaneously, in real time, as her songs echo in my living room while drops of redwood rain fall gently on the roof above.And as always, Tracy: thank you for being you. The redwoods and I are happy to listen in to tales of your far from ordinary life once more.1 – Sing for You: The time to sing for you is now. It is always now. I can hum along to this, but that does not mean that it is a simple thing, to sing for all of us. But maybe it is. Simple, I mean. Perhaps we are all each other’s songs in the end.2 – I Did It All: It’s too early for cocktails, Tracy. It’s 9am in the morning, and the fog still lingers. Twist my arm, however, and I might relent. Make mine an Old Fashioned. I wonder: would you join me for a drink at Venus Distillery in Santa Cruz to fill me in on the all that you did since you wrote and performed this song in 2007? Did you do it all again after that? Have they made that made-for-TV movie about you yet? Maybe someone should speak with the folks at Apple TV+ about it, then. And does Dean Parks play clarinet at weddings and bar mitzvahs as well? He’s really good.3 – Save Us All: Yes. He did. And He still does. Loves you, I mean. There are worse meals in life than bread, fish, and wine. Actually, that sounds just like my Sunday dinner plans this week: cedar plank grilled California king salmon, homemade sourdough rye bread, and a 2017 Hamilton Family Vineyard Chardonnay from Big Basin Vineyards. Care to join me? Ask Buddha, Allah, and Krishna if they’ll be coming, too. Jesus is coming already. He has a standing invitation at the table, and He can bring any friends He likes.4 – Our Bright Future: The thing is, Tracy: The past and the future, they don’t exist. Not in the way one usually thinks about them with our mistaken minds in constant need of healing. The wars of the past and those of the future cannot stop the peace of the now. Listening to this song, despite the critical content of the words, it is a peaceful experience for me. How do you manage this? Actually, having Dean Parks accompany you probably helps. A lot. That Dean guy, the dude can play.5 – For a Dream: Framed in gold leaf. Or golden leaves? The maple trees in Purisima Canyon are starting to turn gold, Tracy. And the redwood trees are shedding their spent needles in a shower of amber, orange, pale green, and topaz. How would it be if we are pictured together there, surrounded by the fallen gold of the forest – and not in a dream? Definitely better than the pain. The truth always seems simpler when walking in the redwoods. Wouldn’t you agree?6 – Thinking of You: Joey Waronker is great on percussion. Did you consider actually howling at the moon in this song? I’ll bet that Sting would have done so, in an instant. No one howls like Sting. Well, the coyotes in the canyon are pretty good at it, too. They have pups this year, the Purisima Creek pack does. For some reason, your song makes me think about them. I hope that they have a warm and dry den to bed down in until the rain stops. Stop thinking so much, Tracy. Start feeling instead! You can learn a lot from a coyote. Or by listening to Joe Gore play keyboards. Lovely sound you’ve got there, Joe. Just lovely.7 – A Theory: Dean Parks plays pedal steel as well? What can’t that man do? Run for President in 2020, perhaps? Dean 2020. I kinda like the sound of that. But, you know, it’s just a theory. An educated guess. A conclusion not foregone. Why not search for proof? Or just go out for lunch? How about meeting up for fish tacos at the Mercado in Pescadero? I’ll buy the beer if you’ll spring for the tacos.8 – Conditional: Not for free? Know what has no strings attached? Hiking in the redwoods in the rain. Meet me at the Purisima Creek trailhead, and we’ll try to forget about all those things about yourself that you still cannot accept. Unconditional love, that is what the trees in the forest promise. No qualifiers. No liars. Just a lot of banana slugs, especially when it’s wet.9 – Something to See: Ah, the soothing sounds of Larry Goldings on Wurlitzer. And organ. What a talented bunch of musician friends you’ve got there, Tracy. Rock Deadrick is great on backup vocals as well. Know where’s no war and no grief? In the redwoods. Especially when it rains. Just try not to step on the newts. Tiny little guys, those newts, but very determined creatures. Ever seen dozens of newts emerging from their summer hibernation when the autumn rains begin to fall? Now THAT would be something for you to see!10 – The First Person on Earth: I have a confession to make, Tracy. This song has long been my favorite on the album. I loved listening to it on long solo car trips from California to Montana and back again. Driving early in the morning on desolate dirt roads in eastern Oregon, you do really feel like the first person on earth. The first person awake, at any rate. When you’ve got 400 miles to go before you can set up your tent at the next campground, you tend to start your day early, before the dawn. And this song, it’s perfect for mornings like that. Love Carla Kihlstedt on violin on this track, by the way. And Rob Burger on vibraphone and pump organ. And Joey W. on percussion again. Dang, Tracy. You play with some good people!11 – Spring: This is a song about spring, obviously. But it works with the late summer rains as well. When the rains return to the California coast each year, it’s the start of a new cycle. The wetness brings new growth, new sounds, new trickles and traces of life. Like the first of spring, you might say. I do like the fact that you’ve done this song with only Michael Webster on piano, Larry on acoustic bass, and you on acoustic guitar. It’s just that you end it all way too soon. I’d have loved at least an extra verse.Let’s talk about it over tacos, why don’t we? Or gin drinks at Venus Distillery. Take your pick. Here’s to more bright futures for us all! And thanks, friend, again for letting me listen – and for helping me once more to think.

Tracy Chapman's new CD stands out because of her depth as songwriter, powerful vocal performance & unique sound. "Save Us All" is one of my favorite tracks on the CD with its slap-happy rhythm & joyful expression of tolerance, "I've heard that your God's older, Buddha, Allah, Krishna, manifest with many faces, worshipped the world over in foreign places; I assume your God must love you." Chapman revisits the theme about the need for redemption on the hauntingly lovely title track, "To our Father, what good may come to let the children walk alone, to fear to fail & need no savior to be at peace in our bright future?" "For a Dream" also has a spiritually soothing quality. "Thinking of You" glides on Dean Parks' pixie-like guitar, "You floated on the air, far away at light speed; I guess some objects do defy the laws that we conceive." "Something to See" envisions a day when war is a history on a lovely track. Chapman examines many religious beliefs with a joyful, tender spirit. From track to track, "Our Bright Future" is a consistently excellent, a pleasure. Bravo!

Love her sound!

I am a Tracy Chapman fan. I have every cd she has released and I read the reviews before purchasing this cd. i didn't know what to expect. I have to say, the second song, "I Did It All" is probably, for me, the most annoying song she has ever written- I must fast forward through it every time. I definitely do agree it's very melodic without much shift in tempo throughout the cd. I played it several times in my car just to see if some songs stuck. There are definitely some good songs and some great choruses in the cd. It definitely does not compare to some of her cds from the past but this is a good cd. There are reviews that say it's too religious. Tracy has always put religion and respect for the Earth and our surroundings in every cd but i wouldn't say it's more than "Before Easter" for example. So in the end I just recommend having it in your collection if you are a true Tracy Chapman fan.

Such an under-rated musician. And, she deserves the love of a total remaster of her back catalog. Bonus tracks, un-insured singles. She deserves without a doubt a remaster of her back catalog. I'd be the first to gobble up her her beginning and her journey onward to 2008. One of a kind, never to be imitated and she's such a beacon of 1988 to 2008.Let's get it done. Fans are waiting.

Forever I have loved the voice of Tracy Chapman. The songs are bent on bringing you into a spiritual place that makes you believe there is a better way and that we are at the edge of the cliff if we do not take the path to save our planet and ourselves.

Great album. While it doesn't break any new ground, the ground it treads is still terrific."First Person on Earth is a great standout.If you like Ms. Chapman, you will like this album.

Let me admit upfront that I am an unrepentant Tracy Chapman fan, I love virtually every song on every album she has ever produced. Having said that if you are even the most casual fan of Chapman out there I that think you will be pleased with this effort. Although, at this stage in Chapman's career, her lyrics focus more on relationships than politics than in times past however her lyrics continues to be though provoking and moving.