Harry Chapin: Trending quotes

“Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go…
I stashed the bill in my shirt.”

Harry Chapin

Taxi
Song lyrics, Heads & Tales (1972)
Context: There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.
And she said we must get together,
But I knew it'd never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change."
Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go...
I stashed the bill in my shirt.

Hurt

“Somebody said…Where are the dreamers
Somebody said…Dead
Somebody said…Here comes the holy rollers
Tryin' to sell us all the screamers instead.”

Harry Chapin

Somebody Said
Song lyrics, Living Room Suite (1978)

Dead

“But high up on the mountain
When the wind is hitting it
If you're watching very closely
The rock slips a little bit…”

Harry Chapin

The Rock
Song lyrics, Portrait Gallery (1975)

Mountain

“My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."”

Harry Chapin

Cat's in the Cradle, written with his wife Sandy Chapin
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)

World , Way , Learning

“Good dreams don't come cheap
You've got to pay for them.”

Harry Chapin

There Only Was One Choice
Song lyrics, Dance Band on the Titanic (1977)

Dreams

“All my life's a circle;
But I can't tell you why;
Season's spinning round again;
The years keep rollin' by.”

Harry Chapin

Circle
Song lyrics, Sniper and Other Love Songs (1972)

Life , Season

“I am the morning DJ… At W. O. L. D.
Playin' all the hits for you… Wherever you may be.
The bright good morning voice… Who is heard, but never seen!
Feelin' all of 45…. Goin' on 15.”

Harry Chapin

W*O*L*D
Song lyrics, Short Stories (1974)

“All my life's a circle;
Sunrise and sundown;
Moon rolls thru the nighttime;
Till the daybreak comes around.”

Harry Chapin

Circle
Song lyrics, Sniper and Other Love Songs (1972)

Life

“And while blood's the only language that your deaf old ears can hear
And still you will not answer with that message coming clear
Does it mean there's no more ripples in your tired old glory stream
And the buzzards own the carcass of your dream?”

Harry Chapin

There Only Was One Choice
Song lyrics, Dance Band on the Titanic (1977)

Dreams

“And if a woman
She used a life line
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well I wonder what would happen to this world.”

Harry Chapin

I Wonder What Would Happen to this World
Song lyrics, Living Room Suite (1978)
Variant: Oh, if a man tried
To take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth,
I wonder what would happen to this world.

Life , World , Time

“There's a vacancy, won't you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
I'm a motel man in a promised land
That's filled with empty faces
So won't you bring your sorrows bring your dreams,
It's a place for you to be
There's no more tomorrow or that's how it seems
Won't you come to me? I've got a vacancy”

Harry Chapin

Vacancy
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)

Dreams

“We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears
You know that rock's been perched up there for a hundred thousand years.”

Harry Chapin

The Rock
Song lyrics, Portrait Gallery (1975)

Fear , Study

“The very day I purchased it,
I christened my guitar
as my monophonic symphony,
six string orchestra.”

Harry Chapin

Six String Orchestra
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)