I can’t imagine a song like Tracy Chapman‘s “Fast Car” — sparse acoustic instrumentation, socio-political commentary — enjoying the kind of popularity the Cleveland, Ohio native’s debut single did 25 years ago.

But back then, even as “Fast Car” gained traction on radio, the song sounded like nothing else around. Parked in the top 10 alongside Chapman were hits by George Michael, Elton John, Chicago, Guns N’ Roses, Robert Palmer, Steve Winwood, Huey Lewis & The News, Whitney Houston, and Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine. Of those, only “I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love” (ballad) and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (rock) weren’t uptempo pop.

“I’d been looking for something acoustic to do for some time,” Tracy Chapman’s producer David Kershenbaum told Rolling Stone. “There was a sense in the industry of a slight boredom with everything out there and that people might be willing to listen again to lyrics and to someone who made statements.”

Indeed they were. This week in 1988, Tracy Chapman‘s “Fast Car” was riding high at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, the single’s chart peak. The following week, the song dropped to #7, before throwing it into reverse for another week at #6. Chapman’s follow-up single, “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution,” stalled at #75, with “Baby Can I Hold You” then crawling to #48.

From its spring release through to summer, fall, and winter, Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut rarely left my cassette player whether I was listening at home or being chauffeured in a fast car. Chapman’s music — her stories — opened up a world that I and many others might not have ever otherwise known.

“Fast Car” wouldn’t be Chapman’s last Top 40 entry. Eight years later, she scored an even bigger hit with “Give Me One Reason.” The bluesy number, which once more sounded like nothing else around, spent five weeks at #3.

Purchase Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.