Yes, the Tracy Chapman / Luke Combs performance mattered because it was a connection across supposed divides, but it also mattered because Combs embodied unbridled joy, admiration,and respect for Chapman, something we see FAR too rarely when these sorts of bridges are celebrated.
He knew he was a guest at HER table and rightfully was out of his mind with joy to be there.
Anyway, I can't say enough about how Luke Combs handled that moment, but maybe the most appropriate compliment I can pay him is that he held it together while onstage with Tracy Chapman & sang beautifully. I suspect that's also the thing that he's most proud of because...
The thing about the get along with everyone advice is that it’s easily given and followed from a position of power, because “getting along” rarely means giving up anything that you’re already denying to the folks you’re getting along with.
It’s the fact that he’s OF these people but CLEARLY thinks he’s better than them (spoiler, he’s not) but lacks the acting talent or natural charisma to mask it.
In fairness to him, I definitely thought that guy said his name was Timantha so I was also confused.
A young man on the subway yells that he has no food, nothing to drink, and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. Never threatens anyone directly. Commits no violence.
And someone sneaks up from behind and chokes the life out of him for FIFTEEN minutes. nypost.com/2023/05/02/sho…
No attempt to talk. No offer of help. No attempt to stand between him and the people he was supposedly threatening. No attempt to leave the train and leave him to his misery.
Instead, a sneak attack from behind and then fifteen minutes of slowly and brutally choking the life out of a man while he struggled to breathe, to live a life that was already a brutal struggle.