I-eee-iii...had a feeling that I BELONGED! I-ee-iii...had a feeling that I could be someone...be someone...BE SOMEONE!

The whole Tracy Chapman thing started last summer. Mooselips, the coffeeshop I worked at last summer while up north, had XM radio that we piped through the shop during the day. And, in an incredible coincidence that I know you'll find hard to believe, the XM radio channel we chose was called "The Coffeeshop". On a good day, the channel would play hard-to-find acoustic covers of favorite folk and popular tunes. On a bad day, it would play the same goddamn songs by three artists, over and over and over again: Indigo Girls, Natalie Merchant, and Tracy Chapman.

You can read more about how I felt about this here.

And while the Indigo Girls and Natalie Merchant thing has fallen away, Tracy Chapman has stayed with me. To the point where I wrote this. Also to the point where, on a sunny afternoon a couple weeks ago, I called Randy and left my a capella rendition of "Fast Car" on his voicemail.

Last night we had this conversation:

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED TO RANDY THIS MORNING!


It's like...once you think it, it becomes real.

You belong now, Randy. You don't even need a fast car to feel like you could be someone.