Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964 in Cleveland, OH) is an American singer … Read Full Bio ↴Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964 in Cleveland, OH) is an American singer best known for the singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' Bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", and "Give Me One Reason." She is a multi-platinum and multi-Grammy award-winning artist.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio,U.S., Tracy Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs as a child. She received a scholarship through A Better Chance that allowed her to attend Wooster School in Connecticut, and was eventually accepted to Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Tracy Chapman helped restore songwriters to the spotlight in the '80s. The multi-platinum success of Chapman's eponymous 1988 debut was unexpected, and it had lasting impact. Although Chapman was working from the same confessional songwriter foundation that had been popularized in the '70s, her songs were fresh and powerful, driven by simple melodies and affecting lyrics. At the time of her first album, there were only a handful of artists performing such a style successfully, and her success ushered in a new era of songwriters that lasted well into the '90s. Along with 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M., Chapman's liberal politics proved enormously influential on American college campuses in the late '80s.

Official Website: http://www.tracychapman.com
Fansite: http://www.tracychapmanonline.com

Hard Wired
Tracy Chapman Lyrics

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Your wants desires
Needs and wishes
Will be duly noted
Processed filed and cataloged
Labeled and encoded
Turned into sitcom dialog
And advertising slogans

We've got a box to put in your brain
Hard wired for downloading
All the secrets and the mysteries
You've been selfishly withholding

The dreams and hopes
That once were yours
Will now be collected and dispersed
So the first to come with cash to spend
Will be the first one served

We've got a box to put in your brain
Hard wired for downloading
All the secrets and the mysteries
You've been selfishly withholding

Make you think you like to be watched
Displayed on the auction block
Invaded in your own home
Stripped naked on the television
Humiliated in front of millions

We've got a box to put in your brain
Hard wired for downloading
All the secrets and the mysteries
You've been selfishly withholding

We've got a box to put in your brain
We've got a box to put in your brain
We've got a box to put in your brain
We've got a box to put in your brain

Your wants desires

Needs and wishes
Will be duly noted

Overall Meaning

Tracy Chapman's song "Hard Wired" is a commentary on the intrusive nature of modern technology and media, and how our thoughts and emotions are often commercialized and commodified. The lyrics warn about how our personal wants, desires, needs, and wishes are being monitored, processed, and molded into pre-packaged ideas that are sold to the highest bidder, turning us into passive consumers who are easily manipulated and exploited.

The first verse talks about how our individuality is being erased as our experiences are turned into "sitcom dialog" and "advertising slogans". The second verse describes the "box" that is being put in our brains, which symbolizes the machinery of media and technology that is used to monitor and control us. The lyrics imply that this box is being used to steal our "secrets and mysteries" as a means of profiting off our intellectual property.

The final verse describes the consequences of this control, as people are made to feel like they "like to be watched" and subjected to public humiliation for the sake of entertainment. In ending with the repeated line "We've got a box to put in your brain," Chapman emphasizes the dystopian nature of this future, where our minds are no longer our own and are instead overtaken by faceless corporations and governments.

Line by Line Meaning

Your wants desires
Your wants and desires

Needs and wishes
Your needs and wishes

Will be duly noted
They will be properly recorded

Processed filed and cataloged
They will be processed, filed, and cataloged

Labeled and encoded
They will be labeled and encoded

Turned into sitcom dialog
They will be turned into sitcom dialogues

And advertising slogans
And advertising slogans

We've got a box to put in your brain
There is a box that will be installed in your brain

Hard wired for downloading
The box is hard wired for downloading purposes

All the secrets and the mysteries
All the secrets and mysteries that you keep

You've been selfishly withholding
You have been selfishly keeping to yourself