Tracy Chapman spoke to The New York Times about the way she is pigeonholed by the songs she writes…

“I am writing. I’m still writing story songs. I know that I have been labeled as a protest singer, and it’s not a label that I accept. I’m not mad at it, but it doesn’t fully represent what I do or how I think about myself.

…

I have been lucky in that I get to make a living by pursuing a creative endeavor and letting my mind go where it wants and create these characters like the ones in “Fast Car.” Because I hope everybody knows it’s not me. [Laughs] I was not, at 24, married with a couple kids — not that there’s anything wrong with that, but this is a work of fiction in that regard. I did, however, feel like I wanted to be someplace where I had connection and a sense of belonging, and that’s the thing in the song that’s me, 100 percent.”