Our Bright Future

2008 studio album by Tracy Chapman

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]
Slant Magazine	^[3]
Toronto Star	^[4]

Our Bright Future is the eighth and most recent 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.^[5] Chapman toured Europe again in the Summer of 2009. Our Bright Future was certified Platinum in France, selling more than 200,000 copies there.^[6] 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 record.

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)^[7]	81
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[8]	23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[9]	39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[10]	22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[11]	56
French Albums (SNEP)^[12]	5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[13]	28
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[14]	82
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[15]	20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[16]	39
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[17]	42
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[18]	35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[19]	9
UK Albums (OCC)^[20]	75
US Billboard 200^[21]	57

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for *Our Bright Future*
Chart (2008)	Position
French Albums (SNEP)^[22]	41
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[23]	85
Chart (2009)	Position
French Albums (SNEP)^[24]	78
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[25]	97

Certifications

Sales certifications for *Our Bright Future*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)^[26]	Platinum	100,000^*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[27]	Gold	15,000^{^}
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ "Our Bright Future by Tracy Chapman". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
^ Deming, Mark (2008-11-11). "AllMusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
^ "Slant Magazine review". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
^ "Toronto Star review". Thestar.com. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
^ "Official website". Tracy Chapman. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
^ "2008 : Le bilan des ventes de disques en France". Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
^ "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.
^ "Austriancharts.at – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Ultratop.be – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Ultratop.be – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Lescharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Tracy Chapman". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Italiancharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Spanishcharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Tracy Chapman Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2008" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2008". hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2009" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2009". hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^ "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.
^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Our Bright Future')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012.