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THE ARTIST WHO WENT HER OWN WAY  Tracy Chapman performing at the White House with Eric Clapton, 1998. Source: National Archives. The call out of the blue. The unexpected desk visit. The chatter -- I’ve been thinking about you? It’s been too long — that feels like it’s the prologue to an ask. Everybody has experienced it. Nobody likes it. When we meet someone who’s nice without wanting something, that’s a memorable delight. Maybe we’re even a bit cautious at first. But sometimes, someone has proven that they don’t want anything. And that’s irresistible. Sometimes, someone has walked away from objects of desire most would run toward. That’s Tracy Chapman. The four-time Grammy winner and multi-platinum artist’s work resonates with undeniable gravitas. Each song, crafted and performed with intensity and seriousness — yet without artifice — reveals deep commitment. We can feel her music make a difference. Chapman has always been resistant to being commercialized. At shows, she let her music speak for her. Then she got off the wheel, stopped recording and touring. Refused to let the profit machine determine where or when she played. She appears on occasion if it aligned with her values, such as at charities and to get out the vote. Not that she’s poorer for it. She’s sold over 40 million records and owns her own music. The residuals, alone, keep her more than comfortable. Yet, all too often being comfortable isn’t enough to keep people from letting greed for more or fear of “losing it all” make their choices for them. I don’t purport to know what Tracy Chapman wants, other than a fair and just world. But seeing her perform at the Grammy’s, that incandescent smile, those warm eyes, the lack of affectation — we sense she is giving and receiving, not taking. She needs nothing from Hollywood, or from us. If we want to listen to her music, if we want to love her, admire her, that’s on us. We’re welcome to it, but she won’t play to it. And that’s as lovely as encountering someone who is kind to us without wanting something in return. That Tracy Chapman could have so much if she reached for it, but doesn’t, makes her absolutely irresistible. In the positive, as well as in the negative, considering some of the weird backlash she’s receive in the last year. Her not wanting anything from us disturbs. Is she for real? Would we be good like that? Abstain from the spoils of fame, as she has, if the world were put on our platter? We want to be wanted. Yet we love those most who don’t have such needs. I love you, Tracy Chapman. **  Henry India was born in W. Germany and lives in Seattle, Washington with their soulmate, hummingbirds, squirrels, rabbits, chickadees, sparrows, robins, jays, plum, cherry and apple trees, a very old pear tree, and magnificent laurels. Also, ants, snails, a few rats, and a raccoon family. They are a nonbinary writer and soul coach.
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