On a somewhat happier note...

[thatcrazycajun]

With love and thanks to chirosinger for the tip: Exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Harold Forster Chapin was born.

Poor Harry would have been 65 today (old enough to qualify for Medicare!), had his life not been tragically cut short in June of 1981 by an automobile accident on NYC's notorious Long Island Expressway. I was in the midst of my very first semester at Louisiana State University (I had decided not to wait until fall to start college, and a good thing too, as I would have graduated a semester late in 1985 otherwise) when I read the news in the local paper. I still lament the waste of a tremendous talent...but I also thank whatever God or gods there be that we had him for a time, at least.

What's your favorite Harry Chapin song? Mine's "30,000 Pounds of Bananas," with "Cat's in the Cradle" a close second.

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. So many. "A Better Place To Be", "Dreams Go By", "Always Seventeen" (can't listen to that one too often, breaks my heart), "All My Life's A Circle", "Six String Orchestra", "W.O.L.D."... but I think my absolute favorite has to be "Taxi". That one hits every possible button and leans on 'em, both musically and as a story.

[hms42]

Do you know about "Sequel"??

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

"A Better Place To Be" and "Sunday Morning Sunshine" are pretty high on my list.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Oh, and how could I forget "I Let Time Go Lightly"?

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

"Mail Order Annie." I do this one at filk circles pretty often.

Chapin songs

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Given that my two favorite Harry Chapin songs are among my five top favorite songs of all time, it may be a bit surprising that I haven't even remotely heard his entire canon. These two, however, are "Stranger With the Melodies" and "Corey's Coming" (the slightly shorter of the two versions, as the longer one tries to explain just a bit too much). "A Better Place to Be" would be lower amid my top 20. There are obviously a lot of other ones I need to listen to before too much longer. Note: It is my understanding (grapevine -- I haven't looked at the records, especially records I don't own) that the lyrics to "Cat's in the Cradle" were written by his wife Sandy, and "All My Life's a Circle" was written by his brother Tom. Can somebody who has the info confirm or refute this for me? (And oh, yes: I am also very fond of "Vacancy" -- might want to play this in a band someday, if it were the right band.)

Nate B.

Re: Chapin songs

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

"Circle" was written for (and maybe with) Tom, for Tom's children's show (on ABC, IIRC, in the 1970s). I couldn't tell you about "Cat's in the Cradle", though I've never heard that before.

Re: Chapin songs

[filkferengi]

The show was "Make A Wish" & inspired lots of creativity.

Re: Chapin songs

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

You're hardly alone in not having heard all of Harry's canon; there are still a lot of songs mentioned by you and other posters here that I have yet to hear myself. Have to see if that new Songz.com site has any...

Re: Chapin songs

[hms42]

Chapin album/song lists -

http://www.chapinmusic.com/browse103.php?artistID=3

And free Chapin music -

http://www.chapinmusic.com/traders/index.html

Re: Chapin songs

[hms42]

Sandy wrote the lyrics as a poem that she gave to Harry as a hint to spend time with the family. He took the poem, put it to music.

I know Circle was written for a kids show that Tom was host on.

Re: Chapin songs

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

According to Wikipedia the song was about Sandy Chapin's first husband's relationship with his father, or something like that. Having it be a hint to Harry is probably also the right answer. Truth be told it touches such a universal chord that it could relate to any of us.

Before I read the Wikipedia article I had no idea that "I Want To Learn A Love Song" was autobiographical.

Re: Chapin songs

[hms42]

Sorry. I was reffering to Cat's in the Cradle.

Re: Chapin songs

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

So was I, actually -- the bit about "I Wanna Learn A Love SOng" was just an aside.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I adore much of his work. On one hand, there's "Circle"; on the other, "Flowers are Red"; on the gripping hand, there's "Sniper", which is made of awesome.

One thing I'd suggest, if you want to remember Harry properly, is to contribute to the organization he founded, World Hunger Year, whose purpose is to deal with hunger. They prefer to teach how to fish, but are not averse to handing over a tuna or three. (If you've ever heard Hungerthon on the radio around Thanksgiving, those are the folks. If I'm lucky, I'll have time to get back to volunteering on their phone banks one of these years.)

I should, in fairness, point out that Harry had an atrocious driving record, and that many people agreed, at the time, that he should never have been allowed behind a wheel by the point of his accident.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>>One thing I'd suggest, if you want to remember Harry properly, is to contribute to the organization he founded, World Hunger Year, whose purpose is to deal with hunger.<<

An excellent idea, and thank you for the reminder.

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

"Cat's in the Cradle" has been played to death. I prefer "WOLD" myself.

[hms42]

6 String Orchestra - Live version from various concert recordings I have and the Concert that Harry and Tom did in Ct in 1979 on 3 hours notice.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I think it's a toss up between A Better Place to Be, Remember When the Music, Corey's Coming and Mr. Tanner.

Those are the can't-live-withouts, and there are whole lot of others.

Harry Chapin found me when I was nine and he hasn't let go since.

Let's See

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

Over the years "Roses Are Red" has climbed to the top, but there is also:
"Sequel" and "The Parade's Still Passing By"

There but for fortune
Say a small circle of friends
Some may see the changes
So few see the ends
The pleasures of the harbor
Have come to you at last
You may not be marching anymore
But the parade's still going past.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

As I said in a reply to archiver_tim above, I learned Circle to sing to my wife, and as a companion piece to One Stage Before and other similar songs about deja-vu and relationships. Thumbs up also to Six String Orchestra, although I can't do that one because my banjo lacks a string, and because I don't have to strings, drums and other accoutrements to do it properly. I got to see Tommy Smothers do a great version of it when he and Dick were here in Seattle a few years ago, though.

Dance Band on the Titanic scores points for being simultaneously jaunty and macabre. What Made America Famous, Roses Are Red, W-O-L-D, Dancin Boy, Taxi, Sequel, Shooting Star . . . geez, there's hardly a clinker in the bunch, is there?

Harry Chapin

[oldfolkieathome.livejournal.com]

Corey's Coming will always be my #1! But I guess 30,000 Bananas is a close second...the long version (with 3,000 munchkins and a troll!)with the multiplicity of endings.

Re: Harry Chapin - 30k Bananas

[hms42]

The version you are refering to is on Greatest Stories - Live!. There is a 4th ending that appears on a number of the live concerts and I think one of the recent collections (past few years.)

Chapin In Concert

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

My favorite is "Why Do Little Girls," followed closely by "Flowers are Red." Both from the same LP, IIRC.

By a fluke, I actually saw Harry in concert once. I was offered a ticket to my choice of shows on a certain hall's schedule as a birthday present (probably in 1980). The two that interested me were Chapin and Count Basie. I chose Basie on the theory that given their likely remaining lifespans, I'd have a better chance to hear Chapin some other time.

This theory seemed confirmed when Basie became ill and his show was cancelled. I was able to exchange my ticket for Basie for a front row center seat for Chapin. To this day, I can't quite believe it.

During the show, Harry came down from the stage to do "Mail Order Annie," ended it standing in front of me, bent down, and kissed me.

That's right, you heard me.

Ironically, not only did Basie outlive Chapin, but I never did get to see him live.