Harry Chapin: Timing

“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

“And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."”

Harry Chapin

Cat's in the Cradle
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)

Home , Boy , Cats , Time

“I found you a thousand times;
I guess you done the same;
But then we lose each other;
It's like a children's game;
As I find you here again;
A thought runs through my mind;
Our love is like a circle;
Let's go 'round one more time.”

Harry Chapin

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

Love , Children , Game , Time

“I guess it's a sequel to our story
From the journey 'tween heaven and hell
With half the time thinking of what might have been
and half thinkin' just as well.
I guess only time will tell.”

Harry Chapin

Sequel
Song lyrics, Sequel (1981)

Hell , Thinking , Time

“The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. "What you doin' young man?"
"I'm paintin' flowers" he said
She said… "It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one."”

Harry Chapin

Flowers are Red
Song lyrics, Living Room Suite (1978)

School , Art , Color , Way

“Mr. Martin Tanner, a baritone, of Dayton, Ohio made his Town Hall debut last night. He came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards. His voice lacks the range of tonal color necessary to make it consistently interesting.
Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.”

Harry Chapin

Mr. Tanner
Song lyrics, Short Stories (1974)

Color , Time , Night

“And she walked away in silence,
It's strange, how you never know,
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.”

Harry Chapin

Taxi
Song lyrics, Heads & Tales (1972)

Silence , Time

“I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rusting, and I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite.
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright.
Oh she was so damned beautiful that she'd warm a winter's frost.
But she was long past lonely, and well nigh unto lost.
Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try.”

Harry Chapin

Better Place to Be
Song lyrics, Sniper and Other Love Songs (1972)

Love , Beauty , Guy , Winter

“This commitment to end world hunger, and my music and story songs, are ways of dealing with the world as I see it. I'm playing 200 concerts per year-- half of them benefits-- all of them attempts at getting across the footlights to people I would enjoy spending time with in non-concert situations. And over the past 4 years of musical fun, millions of dollars have been raised for things I believe in. Telling stories of our time, building a lasting body of work, new songs, new records, new audiences, new challenges, and still that painfully exciting process of growth that can make one's life into a richly woven tapestry.”

Harry Chapin

All My Life's a Circle, Autobiographical statement on a concert program, circa 1980 http://harrychapin.com/articles/bio.shtml

Life , Hunger , People , World

“Oh all the times I've listened, and all the times I've heard
All the melodies I'm missing, and all the magic words,
And all those potent voices, and the choices we had then,
How I'd love to find we had that kind of choice again.”

Harry Chapin

Remember When the Music
Song lyrics, Sequel (1981)

Love , Time

“I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's have the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.”

Harry Chapin

Cat's in the Cradle
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)

Love , Boy , Time

“And so I'd dream a bass will join me,
and fill the bottom in. And maybe now some lead guitar
so it would not sound so thin.
I need some drums to set the beat
and help me keep in time.
And way back in the distance,
some strings would sound so fine.”

Harry Chapin

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

Dreams , Way , Time , Help

“Now if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth,
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)

World , Life , Time