Luke Combs, politics and finding common ground through music - The Fulcrum

Top Stories

Home>
Pop Culture>

        Luke Combs, politics and finding common ground through music
    Opinion
Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform onstage during the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4.

        JC Olivera/WireImage
    
By David L. NevinsFeb 15, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action.
He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.”
He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.

 See More Writings by author 
Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. 
In November, I wrote a piece for The Fulcrum about Luke Combs and the healing power of his music. 
At the time I was watching the 2023 Country Music Awards and was struck by a song near the end of the ceremony, “Love Can Build a Bridge” – recorded by The Judds and released in 1990. 
Yet the lyrics are as powerful today as they were when they were written over 30 years ago. As I listened to the lyrics, I thought that it must be a song about bridging the divide that is separating our nation. 
Love can build a bridge 
Between your heart and mine 
Love can build a bridge 
Don't you think it's time? 
Don't you think it's time? 

I would whisper love so loudly 
Every heart could understand 
That love and only love 
Can join the tribes of man 
I would give my heart's desire 
So that you might see 
The first step is to realize 
That it all begins with you and me 
But I was wrong. I was quite surprised to discover the song, co-written by Naomi Judd, was dedicated to her family and fans as a goodbye – she was chronically ill with hepatitis C and forced to retire. While the song was not at all political, its message about the importance of always standing together is a lesson that our nation surely must learn. 
The Country Music Awards audience was obviously moved as Jelly Roll and K. Michelle sang with power and obvious emotion, and I couldn’t help but think that country music could serve as a powerful force to bridge our divides. 
And then on Feb. 4 I was struck once again by the healing power of Combs’ music. The 33-year-old white country singer joined Tracy Chapman, a 59-year-old gay and Black artist, at the Grammy Awards to sing “Fast Car,” her 1988 hit that won song of the year and returned to the top of the charts when Combs released his version last year. 
Enjoy their “Fast Car” duet: 
Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs Duetwww.youtube.com
Also enjoy Combs’ “The Great Divide”: 
Luke Combs, Billy Strings - The Great Divide (Lyric Video)www.youtube.com
Latest news
Ethics & Leadership
        When Leaders Put Ego Above Accountability—Democracy At Risk
    
Carolyn  Goode
4h
Democracy
        There’s No Excuse for Signalgate
    
Julie  Roland
4h
Justice
        Ex‑Chief Justices Unite to Defend Judicial Independence
    
The Fulcrum
4h
Governance & Legislation
        Democrats’ Redistricting Gains Face New Court Battles Ahead of 2026 Elections
    
Hugo Balta
4h

The Top 5

Discover More

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

In November, I wrote a piece for The Fulcrum about Luke Combs and the healing power of his music.

At the time I was watching the 2023 Country Music Awards and was struck by a song near the end of the ceremony, “Love Can Build a Bridge” – recorded by The Judds and released in 1990.

Yet the lyrics are as powerful today as they were when they were written over 30 years ago. As I listened to the lyrics, I thought that it must be a song about bridging the divide that is separating our nation.

Love can build a bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?

I would whisper love so loudly
Every heart could understand
That love and only love
Can join the tribes of man
I would give my heart's desire
So that you might see
The first step is to realize
That it all begins with you and me

But I was wrong. I was quite surprised to discover the song, co-written by Naomi Judd, was dedicated to her family and fans as a goodbye – she was chronically ill with hepatitis C and forced to retire. While the song was not at all political, its message about the importance of always standing together is a lesson that our nation surely must learn.

The Country Music Awards audience was obviously moved as Jelly Roll and K. Michelle sang with power and obvious emotion, and I couldn’t help but think that country music could serve as a powerful force to bridge our divides.

And then on Feb. 4 I was struck once again by the healing power of Combs’ music. The 33-year-old white country singer joined Tracy Chapman, a 59-year-old gay and Black artist, at the Grammy Awards to sing “Fast Car,” her 1988 hit that won song of the year and returned to the top of the charts when Combs released his version last year.

Enjoy their “Fast Car” duet:

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs Duetwww.youtube.com

Also enjoy Combs’ “The Great Divide”:

Luke Combs, Billy Strings - The Great Divide (Lyric Video)www.youtube.com

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

Read More
The Tucson baseball team playing against the Águilas de Mexicali in the border city of Mexicali. Photo courtesy of the Tucson baseball team

        A Baseball Team Caught Between Two Countries — a Visa Shift and a Shutdown
    
Daniel Torres
Eduardo García
Dudley Althaus
Dec 18, 2025
NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO — What was meant to be a historic first for America’s pastime — a Mexican Pacific League baseball franchise anchored north of the border — has become a bureaucratic curveball.
The newly relocated Tucson, Arizona, baseball team — formerly the Mayos de Navojoa from Sonora, Mexico — has yet to fulfill a long-held dream shared by fans on both sides of the border: bringing professional Mexican winter baseball to U.S. soil.
Keep ReadingShow less
Recommended
Glossary
        Redistricting
    
The Fulcrum
01 January
Democracy
        Balance – The Golden Mean
    
Amy Lockard
19 May
Rule of Law
        The Legal Costs and Risks of Trump’s 328 Lawsuits
    
Steve Corbin
21 May
Ethics & Leadership
        Best and Worst U.S. Presidential Cabinets Ranked: What the Research Reveals
    
Steve Corbin
03 September
Ethics & Leadership
        Behind the “Lie of the Year,” some bitter truths
    
Clarence Page
08 January
Rule of Law
        Trump Administration Faces Record 530 Lawsuits in 2025 — Far Exceeding Biden, Obama, and Bush
    
David L. Nevins
19 November

        Bob Dylan | Xavier Badosa | Flickr
    
www.flickr.com

        From Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar: How Protest Music Still Shapes America in 2025
    
David L. Nevins
Nov 30, 2025
Pop music has always been more than entertainment. Reflects society’s struggles, dreams, and contradictions. 
Across the last fifty years, artists from Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar have given voice to war and peace, protest and resilience, identity and equality, economic struggle and hope. Their lyrics, written for a moment in time, echo with startling relevance in 2025. 
Keep ReadingShow less
John Lennon’s “Imagine” comforts, but his forgotten songs like “Working Class Hero” and “Gimme Some Truth” confront power — and that’s why they’ve been buried.

        Getty Images, New York Times Co.
    

        Don’t Be a Working Class Hero — Just Imagine!
    
Ahmed Bouzid
Nov 12, 2025
Everyone knows John Lennon’s “Imagine.” 
It floats through Times Square on New Year’s Eve, plays during Olympic ceremonies, and fills the air at corporate galas meant to celebrate “unity.” Its melody is tender, its message is simple, and its premise is seductive: If only we could imagine a world without possessions, borders, or religion, we would live in peace.
Keep ReadingShow less
The Elephant in the Room is available now to rent or buy on major streaming platforms.

        Picture Provided
    

        The Elephant in the Room’ Is a Rom-Com for Our Political Moment
    
Jeremy Fuzy
Nov 09, 2025
Discerning how to connect with people who hold political views in opposition to our own is one of the Gordian knots of our time. This seemingly insurmountable predicament, centered in the new film The Elephant in the Room, hits close to home for all of us in the broad mainline Protestant family. We often get labeled “progressive Christians” — but 57% of White non-evangelical Protestants report voting for Donald Trump. So this is something we can’t just ignore, no matter how uncomfortable it is.
While the topic seems like a natural fit for a drama, writer and director Erik Bork (Emmy-winning writer and supervising producer of Band of Brothers) had the novel idea to bake it into a romantic comedy. And as strange as it might sound, it works. Set during the early days of COVID-19, the movie stars Alyssa Limperis (What We Do in the Shadows), Dominic Burgess (The Good Place), and Sean Kleier (Ant-Man and the Wasp).
Keep ReadingShow less
Load More