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Spirited tunes enchant crowd

Nobody in their right mind would attend a Tracy Chapman concert expecting to be greeted with outstanding vocals. Chapman is no Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston; her voice is very plain. Yet, what pushes her music beyond the work of mere mortals is the amazing spirit that propels her songs. More than 1,000 people got to embrace this spirit first-hand Monday night as Chapman graced Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater with her presence.

Entering the stage in total darkness and then being flooded by red and blue lights, Tracy and her band began with "New Beginning," the title track of her fourth album (on the Elektra label). From there, she went into "Can I Hold You Tonight," from her debut album, "Fast Car."

On her albums Tracy Chapman sings songs with meaning. Topics reflect many of life's greatest pains and hopes. She brings the feelings that surround these various life experiences to a head in her music, recreating emotions so real one can only shudder in amazement. At Monday night's concert, Chapman gave the audience a good taste of her music's variety.

Much of her performance centered about failed, painful relationships. She sang such great singles as "Things You Won't Do for Love," "Can I Hold You Tonight" and the ever-famous "Fast Car." Each of these songs chronicles the hurt that can come from a relationship when one is so blinded by love for the other, he or she forgets about the importance of self-love.

Yet no relationship song can compare with the musicless "Behind the Wall." "Last night I heard the screaming,/loud voices behind the wall./'Nother sleepless night for me./It won't do no good to call./The police always come late,/If they come at all." Tracy tells the story of a woman regularly beaten by her husband without recourse ("And when (the police) arrive,/they say they can't interfere with domestic affairs/ between a man and his wife./And as they walked out the door the tears were left in her eyes."). This song produces nightmarish visions of brutes attacking those whom they claim to love; simultaneously it reminds us that these are neither nightmares nor visions. These people, and their victims, are all too real.

Chapman sang about other things she has been affected by personally. Poverty was a primary issue she sang about when she performed "Mountain of Things." She also performed "Freedom Now," dedicated to the living legacy of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. She sings: "Throwed him in jail, and they kept him there/hoping his memory'd die,/that the people'd forget how he once lived to fight for justice in their lives." Eventually she got to he rousing chorus everybody in the audience was waiting for. "Let us all be Free, Free, Free, Free!"

On a more personal note, Tracy sang "I'm Ready." She explained the purpose of this song first. "This is a song I wrote about my grandfather. It's about how, at the end of his life, he came to his peace because he confessed something that had been troubling him." She never reveals that confession in her statement or song.

Chapman also sang about her hopes in "Heaven's Here on Earth," the first song on her "New Beginning" LP. "I wrote this song thinking that even if it isn't heaven, if we started treating it like it was then it could better continue to sustain us," Chapman explained beforehand.

Tracy Chapman ended her show with "Why," a simple song with simple questions with not-so-simple meanings behind them. "Why do the babies starve when there's enough food to feed the world?/Why when there are so many of us are there people still alone?/Why are the missiles called `peacekeepers' when they're aimed to kill?/Why is a woman still not safe when she's in her home?/ ... But somebody's gonna have to answer./The time is coming soon./Amongst all these questions and contradictions are some who seek the truth."

In the middle of her show, Chapman read statements that, before the show, the audience was invited to write upon 3x5 index cards. She read everything from a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote to a funny statement concerning weather. Other statements combined elements of humor, seriousness and idealism.

"It doesn't take many words to speak the truth."

"Isn't it a shame we can make love for the first time only once?"

"One planet. One people. Please."

Tracy Chapman is an outstandingly simplistic artist with a calling to preach a musical gospel. Her music is very down-to-earth in keeping with folk, bluegrass and African influences. Yet it also has a contemporary feel that anyone could get into. Chapman easily pleased the Michigan Theater crowd. She gave everyone there a reason to laugh, a reason to cry, but most of all, a reason to hope and dream. Many concerts present music. What makes this event so much different is that Tracy Chapman didn't just offer great song. She gave her audience an experience they couldn't forget if they tried.