Sam Smith puts his own groove on Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car'

Sam Smith puts his own groove on Tracy Chapman&#039;s &#039;Fast Car&#039;

(Image credit: BBC Radio 1)

last updated 8 January 2015

Nobody was really asking for a new cover of Tracy Chapman's late-'80s/early-'90s college-folk classic "Fast Car," but that doesn't mean British singer Sam Smith shouldn't have tapped the song for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge series. The 22-year-old blue-eyed soul artist may not be the most obvious interpreter of this ode to hardscrabble escapist aspirations, but music doesn't really work that way. Covers are fun, and if Smith doesn't exactly make the song his own, he does a fine job over an interesting arrangement. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.