Our Bright Future

Our Bright Future
Studio album by Tracy Chapman
Released	November 11, 2008 (2008-11-11)
Length	42:20
Label	Elektra
Producer	Tracy Chapman Larry Klein
Tracy Chapman chronology
Where You Live (2005) Our Bright Future (2008) Greatest Hits (2015)
Singles from Our Bright Future
"Sing for You" Released: 2008 "Thinking of You" Released: 2009

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Evening Standard	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
Now	[5]
Record Collector	[6]
Slant Magazine	[7]
Q	[8]
Toronto Star	[9]
Uncut	6/10 [10]

Our Bright Future is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on November 11, 2008 via Elektra. The album was co-produced by Larry Klein, with the album's first single "Sing For You" being released digitally on October 31, 2008. In promotion for this album, Chapman appeared on radio stations across Europe with interviews and sessions. Chapman also performed "Sing for You" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . A European tour in support of the disc took place through November and December 2008. A US tour was planned for January 2009 but was postponed. ^[11] Chapman toured Europe again in the Summer of 2009. Our Bright Future was certified Platinum in France, selling more than 200,000 copies there. ^[12] It also was certified Gold in Switzerland, for sales in excess of 15,000. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. To date, it is Chapman's latest studio album.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tracy Chapman.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sing for You"	4:25
2.	"I Did It All"	3:10
3.	"Save Us All"	3:46
4.	"Our Bright Future"	4:13
5.	"For a Dream"	3:19
6.	"Thinking of You"	4:49
7.	"A Theory"	3:18
8.	"Conditional"	4:05
9.	"Something to See"	4:14
10.	"The First Person on Earth"	3:52
11.	"Spring"	3:07

Personnel

• Tracy Chapman – acoustic and electric guitar, vocals
• Larry Goldings – keyboards
• Jared Faw – piano
• Steve Gadd – drums
• Joe Gore – acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards
• Larry Klein – bass guitar, organ
• Dean Parks – guitar, clarinet, mandolin, pedal steel guitar
• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion
• Rock Deadrick – background vocals
• Carla Kihlstedt – violin, nyckelharpa
• Michael Webster – keyboards
• Rob Burger – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Our Bright Future Chart (2008) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] 81 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] 23 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] 39 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [16] 22 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [17] 56 French Albums (SNEP) [18] 5 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [19] 28 Irish Albums (IRMA) [20] 82 Italian Albums (FIMI) [21] 20 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [22] 39 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [23] 42 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [24] 35 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [25] 9 UK Albums (OCC) [26] 75 US Billboard 200 [27] 57

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Our Bright Future Chart (2008) Position French Albums (SNEP) [28] 41 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] 85 Chart (2009) Position French Albums (SNEP) [30] 78 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [31] 97

Certifications

Sales certifications for Our Bright Future

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [32]	Platinum	100,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [33]	Gold	15,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Our Bright Future by Tracy Chapman". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
2. Deming, Mark (2008-11-11). "AllMusic review". AllMusic . Retrieved 2012-02-03.
3. Clark, Pete (11 November 2008). "CDs of the week". Evening Standard . Retrieved 10 April 2025.
4. Hoggard, Liz (9 November 2008). "Pop review: Tracy Chapman, Our Bright Future". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 April 2025.
5. Celestine, Haidita (4 December 2008). "Tracy Chapman - Our Bright Future". Now . Retrieved 10 April 2025.
6. Heatley, Michael (13 October 2008). "Our Bright Future - Tracy Chapman". Record Collector . Retrieved 10 April 2025.
7. "Slant Magazine review". Slant Magazine . Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
8. The lack of any overt passion, energy and fresh ideas makes a numbing and sadly all too predictable listen. [Dec 2008, p.128]
9. "Toronto Star review". Thestar.com. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
10. Larry Klein places the vocals disconcertingly high in the mix, but it effectively emphasises Chapman's poetic sensibility. [Dec 2008, p.86]
11. "Official website". Tracy Chapman. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
12. "2008 : Le bilan des ventes de disques en France". Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
13. "The ARIA Report: Issue 978" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
15. "Ultratop.be – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
16. "Ultratop.be – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
18. "Lescharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
20. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Tracy Chapman". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
21. "Italiancharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
23. "Spanishcharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
24. "Swedishcharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
25. "Swisscharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
27. "Tracy Chapman Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
28. "Top de l'année Top Albums 2008" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
29. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2008". hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
30. "Top de l'année Top Albums 2009" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
31. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2009". hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
32. "French album certifications – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
33. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Our Bright Future')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012.