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Tracy Chapman: Matters of the Heart

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Tracy Chapman
Title: Matters of the Heart
Released: 1992
Label: Elektra Asylum Records
Time: 43:51
Producer(s): Tracy Chapman, Jimmy Iovine
Appears with:
Category: Pop/Rock
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2000.09.09
Price in €: 7,99
Web address: www.tracychapman.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Bang Bang Bang (T.Chapman) - 4:21
[2] So (T.Chapman) - 3:26
[3] I Used to Be a Sailor (T.Chapman) - 3:56
[4] Love That You Had (T.Chapman) - 4:11
[5] Woman's Work (T.Chapman) - 2:01
[6] If These Are the Things (T.Chapman) - 4:40
[7] Short Supply (T.Chapman) - 4:23
[8] Dreaming on a World (T.Chapman) - 5:03
[9] Open Arms (T.Chapman) - 4:34
[10] Matters of the Heart (T.Chapman) - 6:59

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l



Tracy Chapman - Acoustic Guitar, Art Direction

Omar Hakim - Drums
Mike Campbell - Mandolin, Electric Guitar
Alejandro "Alex" Acuña - Percussion
Roy Bittan - Accordion, Keyboards
Mino Cinelu - Percussion
Michael Fisher - Percussion
Bob Glaub - Bass
Charles Judge - Keyboards
Manu Katche - Drums
Larry Klein - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Vernon Reid - Electric Guitar
Steve Thornton - Percussion
Larry Williams - Keyboards
Waddy Wachtel - Electric Guitar
Randy "The Emperor" Jackson - Bass

Femi Jiya - Engineer, Mixing
David Bianco - Engineer
Niko Bolas - Engineer
Bradshaw Leigh - Engineer
Mark "Spike" Stent - Engineer
Thom Panunzio - Engineer
Nellee Hooper - Percussion, Engineer
Greg Goldman - Assistant Engineer
Ed Korengo - Assistant Engineer
Chad Munsey - Assistant Engineer
Rick Plank - Assistant Engineer
Joe Pirrera - Assistant Engineer
Chad Blinman - Assistant Engineer
Bob Clearmountain - Mixing
Bob Ludwig - Mastering
Susie Tallman - Coordination
Herb Ritts - Photography
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1992 CD Elektra     61215-2
1992 CD Elektra     E61215
1992 CD Elektra     61215
1992 CS Elektra     61215-4

Chapman's debut and its quickly produced follow-up CROSSROADS sound very much alike. While not a total departure, 1992's MATTERS OF THE HEART has a much different, richer sound. Subtle elements of world music, blues, and jazz enrich the folk-based starkness of the previous records. Unfortunately, this album was slightly too different for many of Chapman's early fans, and the incorrect received wisdom claims that it's a creative misstep. The more textured arrangements and Jimmy Iovine's slick but not sterile production support Chapman's lyrics without overpowering them, and those lyrics aremore mature and personal than before. The sometimes-empty sloganeering of CROSSROADS is at the barest minimum here, with Chapman instead focusing on character sketches like the thoroughly lovely "I Used to Be a Sailor" and the delicate title track. One of Tracy Chapman's finest.



When Tracy Chapman became a pop sensation nearly four years ago with "Fast Car," the music world held its breath. Was it possible that a singer-songwriter with the vision and moral authority of the young Bob Dylan had finally arrived to rekindle folk rock's flame?

Four years and two albums later, the promise augured by "Fast Car" is still on hold. Chapman's second album, Crossroads, and her brand-new third album, Matters of the Heart, are not bad records, but in the light of "Fast Car" and a couple of the other vignettes on her first album, they are terribly mundane. Matters of the Heart is somewhat weaker than Crossroads, with most of its ten songs mimicking the simplistic vocabulary of generic Sixties folk-pop anthems. And Jimmy Iovine, who produced the new album, shows little of the sensitivity to instrumental detail and vocal intimacy exhibited by David Kershenbaum on Chapman's first two records.

The album's hardest-hitting message song, "Bang Bang Bang," sermonizes about the consequences of guns in the hands of teenage boys, but it doesn't tell a story or build to any point except to warn, "We'll all be at his mercy/If he decides to hunt us down." Chapman's grim, grainy vocal, however, does manage to wrest some power out of a vague, singsongy lyric. Generalities turn into doggerel ("Where are all the sandy beaches/Fishes in the sea") in her environmental protest song "Short Supply." Just as fatuous is the hopeful "Dreaming on a World," in which she sings of tossing coins in fountains and looking for clovers in grassy lawns.

The public versifier gives way to a more vulnerable supplicant in the album's love songs, which have some scattered idiosyncratic images. "If These Are the Things" compares a ruined romantic dream to a nightmare about picking fruit and finding it rotten. And the album's calypso-flavored title song describes an ambiguous relationship that is tearing Chapman apart: "If today were my birthday/I'd be reborn/As Brontë's bird, a bird that could fly."

Matters of the Heart finds Chapman in a place one could hardly have predicted at the time of her debut. The broadsides all sound like forced exercises in folkie rhetoric, only partly redeemed by the power of her voice. It is in her shaky, agitated love songs that she shows the most promise and seems to be the most herself.

STEPHEN HOLDEN - Rolling Stone
(RS 630) Posted: May, 14 1992



Chapman's debut and its quickly produced follow-up CROSSROADS sound very much alike. While not a total departure, 1992's MATTERS OF THE HEART has a much different, richer sound. Subtle elements of world music, blues, and jazz enrich the folk-based starkness of the previous records. Unfortunately, this album was slightly too different for many of Chapman's early fans, and the incorrect received wisdom claims that it's a creative misstep. The more textured arrangements and Jimmy Iovine's slick but not sterile production support Chapman's lyrics without overpowering them, and those lyrics are more mature and personal than before. The sometimes-empty sloganeering of CROSSROADS is at the barest minimum here, with Chapman instead focusing on character sketches like the thoroughly lovely "I Used to Be a Sailor" and the delicate title track. One of Tracy Chapman's finest.

CDUniverse.com



After an attention-getting debut (courtesy of the 1988 single "Fast Car"), things seemed to go quiet for Tracy Chapman, who found her style of earnest, issue-driven folk radically at odds with the commercial mainstream; she was portrayed as humourless, even sanctimonious. Nevertheless, she continued to make albums, and these--while never exactly setting the charts alight--nonetheless yielded their own, quiet pleasures. Matters of the Heart was her third full-length release, and seemed appropriately-titled, since it found Chapman moving away from social reportage (though "Bang Bang Bang" makes an eloquent plea for gun control), toward more personal themes. "Open Arms" and "The Love That You Had" are more intensely emotive than anything she'd recorded to date, while the title track is tinged with a sense of wistful melancholy. As ever, though, her greatest asset is that honeyed murmur of a voice, capable of investing even the most simple utterance with a gravity and wisdom all its own.

Andrew McGuire, Amazon.co.uk



Less bold and angry than her previous work, Chapman paces Matters of the Heart over an acoustic course that touches equally on personal vignettes and social commentary. With her fluid, rapid-fire delivery, Chapman takes aim at society and lands several direct hits devoid of self-righteousness: songs about the downtrodden ("Bang Bang Bang"), feminism ("Woman's Work"), and freedom ("I Used to Be a Sailor"). The album's centerpiece is "If These Are the Things," a subtle, passionate masterpiece about coming to grips with innocence lost. A couple of songs suffer from too much sweetening in the studio, diluting the impact of Chapman's potent lyrics. The extraneous bells and whistles dressing up "Dreaming on a World" provide the most obvious example of a trend Chapman would do well to avoid in the future.

Roch Parisien, All-Music Guide



Matters Of The Heart, das dritte Album der amerikanischen Folksängerin, schließt nahtlos an die beiden Vorgänger Tracy Chapman und Crossroads an. Zwar fehlt eine markante Single im Stil ihres Megahits "Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution", doch beeindruckt die amerikanische Folksängerin wieder mit aufwühlenden Texten, die sich detailliert und kenntnisreich mit den Problemen des schwarzen Amerika auseinandersetzen. Im Vordergrund steht dabei ihre charakteristische, flehend eindringliche Stimme. Die Instrumentierung fällt gewohnt karg aus, meist spinnt eine Akustikgitarre eine feine Melodie, die von dezenten Rhythmen getragen wird, nur hier und da tauchen Elemente afrikanischer Musik auf. Unterstützt wird Tracy Chapman bei Songs wie "I Used To Be A Sailor" oder "Dreaming On A World" übrigens von so renommierten Musikern wie Gitarrist Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) oder Bobby Womack.

Wolfgang Hertel, Amazon.de



Nur im Detail änderte die schwarze Singer/Songwriterin ihr Konzept. So wird auch ihr drittes Album zu einem Juwel des Genres: Die markante, kehlige Stimme getragen von sparsamen Arrangements, die eingängigen Melodien gebettet auf sanfte Harmonien und leichtfüßige Rhythmen und die Texte weitab jeder Platitüde, geschickt zwischen Weinerlichkeit und Zynismus balancierend. Dabei gelingen ihr Spitzzüngigkeiten (Bang Bang Bang) so gut wie traumhafte Balladen (I Used T Be A Sailor) - im reinen, hörtesttauglichen Chapman-Sound.

© Audio



Eine Frau und eine Gitarre vor einem Millionenpublikum - so begann eines der erstaunlichsten Märchen in der jüngeren Popgeschichte. Als Tracy Chapman im Juni 1988 auf die Bühne des Londoner Wembley-Stadions kletterte und für Nelson Mandela ihre schlichten Weisen anstimmte, eroberte sie die Herzen der Zuhörer im Sturm. "Matters Of The Heart" heißt nun beziehungsreich die dritte Platte, und die farbige Amerikanerin steht zu diesem Titel. Der Aufwand an prominentem Personal klingt nahezu nie durch. Mixer Bob Clearmountain und Produzent Jimmy Lovine (der schon bombastische Kapellen wie U2 und die Simple Minds beraten hat) übten sich in der Kunst des Understatement. Ähnlich sparsam effektvoll agierten die Musiker: Drummer Manu Katché, Bassist Tony Levin und der Perkussionist Mino Cinelu aus Peter Gabriels Band, Gitarrist Mike Campbell von Tom Pettys Heartbreakers, Springsteen-Keyboarder Roy Bittan, Gastsänger Bobby Womack sowie Westcoast-Cracks wie Randy Jackson, Alex Acuna oder Waddy Wachtel. Das zentrale Ereignis bleibt immer Tracy Chapmans unangestrengter und doch eindringlicher Gesangsvortrag - egal ob sie Partei ergreift für die Menschen, die in den US-Slums unter die Räder kommen ("Bang Bang Bang"), ob sie den Mühen der Hausfrauen einen kleinen Vers widmet ("Woman's Work"), sich zu einem leisen Liebeslied durchringt ("Open Arms") oder in verschlüsselten Bildern ihre vielleicht etwas zu großen Träume formuliert ("Dreaming On A World"). Musikalisches Profil beweist Tracy Chapman vor allem mit der Single "Bang Bang Bang" und dem rhythmisch raffinierten Titelstück "Matters Of The Heart".

© Stereoplay



When critics and listeners reacted coolly to Tracy Chapman's underrated second LP Crossroads, maybe they were expecting something flashier, or another hit single that would make them feel good about poverty and all that other stuff. But, despite her Amnesty globe-trotting with Bruce, Sting and other rockers, Chapman has decided to continue quietly and steadily with Matters Of The Heart. After a single listen one realizes that it's the audience that must come to Chapman and not the other way around. Not even the guest artists (Vernon Reid, Waddy Wachtel, Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and more) can steal the spotlight from Chapman's thick, warm vocals or drown out the folk groove that Chapman's guitar layers over the worldly percussion. Lyrically, whatever the topic, she offers clear perspectives about class, race, hopes, dreams and personal struggle without preaching. Plain but powerful: "Bang, Bang, Bang," "I Used To Be A Sailor," "Woman's Work," "Dreaming On The World" and the title track.

Steve Ciabattoni - May 15, 1992
CMJ New Music Report Issue: 284
 

 L y r i c s


Bang bang bang

What you go and do
You go and give the boy a gun
Now there ain't place to run to
Ain't no place to run to
When he hold it in his hand
He feel mighty he feel strong
Now there ain't no place to run to
Ain't no place to run

One day he may come back
Repay us for what we've done
Then where you gonna run to
Where you gonna run

But one fine day
All our problems will be solved
Bang bang bang
We'll shoot him down

Give him drugs and give him candy
Anything to make him think he's happy
And he won't ever come for us
He won't ever come

But if he does
And if there's no one else around
Bang bang bang
We'll shoot him down

If he preys only on his neighbors
Brothers sisters and friends
We'll consider it a favor
We'll consider justice done

But if he comes for you or me
And we can place a gun in his hand
Bang bang bang
We'll shoot him dead

What you go and do
You go and give the boy a gun
Now there ain't no place to run to
Ain't no place to run

Now we'll all be at his mercy
If he decides to hunt us down
Cause there ain't no place to run to
Ain't no place to run

If he wants the chances that you took from him
And nothing that you own
Then there'll be no place to run to
There'll be no place to run

And if he finds himself to be
A reflection of us all
Bang bang bang
He'll shoot us down

Before you can raise your eyes to read
The writing on the wall
Bang bang bang
He'll shoot you down

Before you can bridge the gulf between
And embrace him in your arms
Bang bang bang
He'll shoot you down


So

So you make a little money
Off of somebody else's sweat
So some people starve a little
While you get fat
While you get fat
So you grind and grind
And you push and shove
And claim that those most worthy
Will get what they deserve
What they deserve

It can't be true
It can't be true
Because I've seen too many hungry faces
I've seen too many with the likes of you
It can't be true

For you everything has it's price
You give nothing away for free
If silence were truly golden
I guess no one could sleep
No one could sleep

You have money at your fingertips
People at your beck and call
And you're fool enough
To think for a price
You can have the whole wide world

For all our sake's
And all our lives
We must hope the words
That come from your lips
We must hope those words are lies

For all our sake's
And all our lives
We must hope the dreams
Soulless visions that you have
Are never realized

So
You've got a big house
And you drive a fancy car
So what if your pockets are full
If you have an empty heart

You snap your fingers
And all the waters part
So what if the people bow down
If they show you no regard

Your left hand
Always watches your right
So what if you trust in God
If you can't sleep at night

You think you've made it
You think you've got what everyone wants
So what if you're a big fat man
With an empty little heart

Who has made a little money
Off of somebody else's sweat
Who watched the people starve
While you got fat
While you got fat
You got fat
You got fat


I Used To Be A Sailor

I used to be a sailor
Who sailed across the seas
But now I'm just an island
Since they took my boat away from me
Oh no
I don't like being stationary
I like the rocky wavy motions of the sea
I sit and rot behind these padded walls
Hoping one day they'll fall
And set me free

He wrote his epitaph
He wrote his eulogy
It said "I think that I can die now
For my true love won't come for me"
Oh no

I don't like being stationary
I like the rocky wavy motions of the sea
I sit and rot behind these padded walls
Hoping one day they'll fall
And set me free

I used to be a sailor
Who sailed across the seas
But now I'm just an island
Since they took my boat away from me
Oh no

I don't like being stationary
I like the rocky wavy motions of the sea
I sit and rot behind these padded walls
Hoping one day they'll fall
And set me free

Set me free
Set me free
Set me free


The Love That You Had

The love that you had
In your heart is gone
Any touch of sincerity
Any trace of compassion
What hardened your heart?
What turned it to stone?
What made you forget?
You were in love with someone

Your hands don't reach out
Your voice doesn't call me
I know you've stopped listening
Your eyes look straight through me

If nights are like this
I'd rather be alone
Who said you could forget
You were in love with someone?

Tell me what hardened your heart
Tell me what turned it to stone
Tell me what made you forget
You were in love with someone

Was I wrong to forgive
Your indiscretions?
Should I have been more hysterical
Less understanding?

If you're looking for a villain
Go on assume the role
But don't say that it's my fault
That you're not in love with someone

Tell me what hardened your heart
Tell me what turned it to stone
Tell me what made you forget
You were in love with someone

Tell me there's someone in your life
I'll fight to keep your for my own
Tell me because I really want to know
Why you can't be in love with someone


Woman's Work

Early in the morning she rises
The woman's work is never done
And it's not because she doesn't try
She's fighting a battle with no one on her side
She rises up in the morning
And she works 'til way past dusk
The woman better slow down
Or she's gonna come down hard

Early in the morning she rises
The woman's work is never done


If These Are The Things

If these are the things that
Dreams are made of
Why don't I dream
Anymore
I've tried to tell myself
Nothing's changed my dear
But I look around me
And think maybe that's not so

I only have nightmares
And wake up with cold sweat
Coming through my pores

Why don't I dream anymore

I'm in the garden
All the trees bear fruit
I have to pick them before they fall
I finally grab one
I hold it in my hand
I open it up
It's rotten to the core

Why don't I dream anymore

If these are the things that
Dreams are made of
Why don't I dream
Anymore

We lose our patience
Lose our trust
Yes we lose our innocence
To forget our sorrow and hide our pain
We lose old memories
But dreams are what life's worth living for

I wish I could dream
Once more

I'm in the garden
All the trees bear fruit
I have to pick them before they fall
I finally grab one
I hold it in my hand
I open it up
It's rotten to the core

Why don't I dream anymore

If these are the things that
Dreams are made of
Why don't I dream anymore

I've tried to tell myself
It's all for the best my dear
But I look around me and think
Maybe that's not so

I only have nightmares
Wake up in a cold sweat
Have I become as corrupt
As all I abhor

I'm in the garden
All the trees bear fruit
I have to pick them before they fall
I finally grab one
I hold it in my hand
I open it up
It's rotten to the core

Why don't I dream anymore

If these are the things that
Dreams are made of
If these are the things that
Dreams are made of
If these are the things that
Dreams are made of

I don't want anymore


Short Supply

Where are
The sunny days
The blue skies
The flowers for the children
The colors for their eyes?
Don't you see
Don't you see
All these things now days
Come in short supply

It's time that we
It's time that we
Make a space in our hearts
And open our eyes

Where are
All the sandy beaches
Fishes in the sea
Birds to sing for daybreak?
Where are all the trees?

Don't you see
Don't you see
All these things now days
Come in short supply

It's time that we
It's time that we
Make a space in our hearts
And open our eyes

Where are all the grassy hilltops
Clean air to breathe
Pure water to drink of
Beautiful sights to see?

Don't you see
Don't you see
All these things now days
Come in short supply

It's time that we
It's time that we
Make a space in our hearts
And open our eyes

Or there'll be no more you
There'll be no more me
There'll be no more children
All we know will cease to be

Don't you see
Don't you see
The things of this earth
Keep us alive

It's time that we
It's time that we
Make a space in our hearts
And open our eyes

Where are the sunny days?
Blue skies
The flowers for the children
All the colors for their eyes
All the sandy beaches
Fishes in the sea
All the birds to sing for daybreak
Where are
Where are
Where are all the trees?

Don't you see
All these things they come in short supply
It's time that we
Make a space inside our hearts
And open our eyes


Dreaming n A World

I know I may be wishing
On a world
That may never be
But I'll keep on wishing
No matter how hopeless
Or foolish
It may seem
I'll keep on wishing

I'll toss my coins in the fountain
Look for clovers in grassy lawns
Search for shooting stars in the night
Cross my fingers and dream on

I know I may be dreaming
Of a world
Far from present day reality
But I'll keep on dreaming

No matter how unrealistic
Or naive
It may seem Always keep dreaming

And toss your coins in the fountain
Look for clovers in grassy lawns
Search for shooting stars in the night
Cross your fingers and dream on

We must always be thinking
Of a world
As a place of infinite possibilities
And always keep thinking

No matter how hopeless
Or foolish
It may seem
Always keep thinking

And toss our coins in the fountain
Look for clovers in grassy lawns
Search for shooting stars in the night
Cross our fingers and dream on

I'll keep on wishing
We must always keep dreaming
Of a world
With equality and justice
Thinking
There could be a world
Without poverty and sickness
Wishing
Of a world
Without hunger and homelessness
Dreaming
Of a world
Where all people live in peace
Dreaming
Of a world
Dreaming
On a world


Open Arms

If love is what you want
Baby here I am
If tenderness is what you need
I've got that to give
If you need some affection
Baby these are open arms
Open arms, open arms, open arms, open arms
You come hem you've had a hard day
Every door you tried to open
Was closing in your face
I'm right here I'll be right here
I'll embrace you

I'll be open with my heart
I'll let you in
I'll be open with my thoughts
I'll be your best friend
If you need some attention
Baby these are open arms
Open arms, open arms, open arms, open arms

Every corner you turn
Trouble come your way
But when you get home
I'll try to be there
And I'll embrace you

These are
These are
These are
Open arms

If time is what you need
Baby I'll stop the clocks
If you're looking for something
Maybe I've got what you want
If there's one thing to remember
Don't forget that these are open arms
Open arms, open arms, open arms, open arms

These are
These are
These are
Open arms


Matters Of The Heart

I lose my head
From time to time
I make a fool of myself
In matters of the heart
We should have been holding each other
Instead we talked
I make a fool of myself
In matters of the heart

But I asked before
Your reply was kind and polite
One wants more
When one's denied
I make a fool of myself
In matters of the heart

I won't call it love
But it feels good to have passion in my life
If there's a battle
I hope my head always defers to my heart
In matters of the heart

I guess I'm crazy to think
I can give you what you don't want
I make a fool of myself
In matters of the heart

I wish that I had the power
To make these feelings stop
I lose all self control
In matters of the heart

I can't believe
It's so hard to find someone
To give affection to
And from whom you can receive
I guess it's just the draw of the cards
In matters of the heart

You caught me off guard
Somehow you reached me
Where I thought I had nothing left inside
I've learned my lesson I've been edified
In matters of the heart

I've spent my nights
Where the sleeping dogs lie
Not by your side
It feels so lonely
Once again I've left to much to chance
In matters of the heart

Here I sit
I'm feeling sorry for myself
It's quite a sight
But I have you to thank
For reminding me
We're all alone in this world
And in matters of the heart

I'm already missing you
Although we won't say good-byes
Until tomorrow afternoon
Maybe when and if I see you again
We'll see eye to eye
In matters of the heart

I have no harsh words for you
I have no tears to cry
If the moon were full
I'd be howling inside
It only hurts
In matters of the heart

If today were my birthday
I'd be reborn
As Bronte's bird a bird that could fly
And all accounts would be settled
In matters of the heart

Matters of the heart

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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