Also the song released in ‘74 and he died in a car wreck on the Long Island expressway in ‘81. He was just 38 years old. He didn’t get to see his son grow old
This song always hit me. My dad worked in a mill, he worked 12 hour shifts and got 1 weekend off a month. 9 times out of 10 they made him work that one weekend. My mom kept a poem I wrote for an elementary school assignment that was about him. In it I talked about how hard working he was, and how much I loved him, but I wished I could see him more. He worked 4am to 4pm. So when I got up for school he was asleep, and when I got home from school he was already gone. On the weekends I would be asleep when he got home. I would be outside playing all day with neighborhood friends, so he would be at work when I finally came home (the 80s were a different time to be a young kid). When I grew up I did the exact same thing he did. Even when he was in the nursing home for rehabilitation in 2015 after surgery, I got so caught up with work that I forgot to go visit him for almost 2 weeks. I felt like shit and swore to go see him the next morning. As I was up and getting ready the nurse from the nursing home called and told me he had passed away unexpectedly at 6:30am that morning. In a few months (March 29th, 2025) it will be 10 years since he passed. I still carry the guilt with me.
Harry Chapin was one of the cofounders for World Hunger Year. A charity that is still around today making efforts that the child goes hungry. He and his band would often perform between 250 and 300 shows a year, with half of them being donated to World Hunger Year or other local charities. Another one of his amazing songs take on education and it's called "Flowers Are Red". It's definitely worth a listen.
Fun Fact: Harry Chapin included various symbols of childhood in the lyrics as reminders of how quickly it ends. "Cat's Cradle" is a game played with string, "Silver Spoons" are ornamental spoons for babies, and "Little Boy Blue" is a nursery rhyme. "Man In The Moon" could be about the human features children see when they look at the moon.
It's always simultaneously amazed and saddened me at the number of parents who don't realize what they miss by not prioritizing their children.....I'm forever thankful for the memories I have with my son as he grew up. It gives me a small amount of solace since his death in 2009....
When this was written, it was standard for father's to not be involved with their kids lives. To put work 1st and raising the kids was left to the woman. This is one thing that women's lib did that benefited men. As women gained the freedom to have their own career, men gained the right to put family as important as job.
Harry's storytelling is really captivating in his song, "Taxi", about a taxi driver who picks up an old girlfriend and talk about the paths their lives had taken. He followed that up with "Sequel" which follows up years later when they see each other again. "W.O.L.D." is about an AM radio DJ who has to move around to stay in the industry. All of them are worth checking out. BTW: It's pronounced, "Chay-pin".
I listened to all of Harry's music back in the 70s. Most people have no idea about his wild and edgy story songs such as "Dance Band on the Titanic". He also wrote the most unnerving song I've ever heard. The song is called "Sniper" from the album Sniper and Other Love Songs. He wrote it about what I believe was this country's first mass shooting. It's a long song so I wouldn't expect you to react to it but it would be great for you guys to listen to it then talk about it when you react to another shorter song such as "Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas". I guarantee that Sniper will creep you right the F out. Cheers guys, keep em coming!
You must react to Harry Chapin’s song “Taxi”. It’s his first hit single. He performed it on Carson’s Tonight Show in his first appearance and got such an ovation that Johnny invited him back THE NEXT NIGHT, which was unprecedented.
Good one. I think this song is about balance in life. Including sadness for missed bonding as well as sympathy to the man who needs to be away to provide the best life to the family. You wondered if he may have been shunned by the mom. I don't think so, Harry covers that in the song, W.O.L.D. A song that is worth a listen, after Taxi.
The most important thing in life is time with your family, You can have all the money in the world but it will never replace having time with your family.👍❤️
I was really young when this came out. Great arrangement and singer but even being so young, I knew it was so sad. I could only listen to it a couple times and then would turn the radio station when it would play. I didn't want to be sad every time I'd hear it.
I still have my father and this song makes me cry. So beautifully written! I didn’t know the story behind the chorus until now. And his voice just pulls at every strand of my parent brain. I think it can be applied many ways as to fit the situation. What I get out of it is children cherish your parents and parents cherish your children. Peace and love
Remember at this time men were the primary bread maker and the mother's stayed home with the kids. So dad's didn't have as much time. Also back then parents were more parents and not friends of their kids. Much different than now.
In the song, it was about work. The song wasnt autobiographical...He died at 38....he hadnt retired and his son likely wasnt college age yet. His wife wrote a poem...and he turned it into a song after their son was born...so it wasn't about him and his son.
If memory serves, the poem that this was created from was about his wife's dad and his relationship with his son...her brother. Harry wrote the music for it and made it his own with his style. It's not really about Harry and his relationship with his son.
My dad never came to any school sports, always working. He did become extremely successful and we kids benefited greatly financially from that, but we just wanted his time. He gave us so much time to us as children but as we got older and he became more successful it all changed. My sister and I tried to tell him that we would rather that he visit than pay for an overseas trip and he got so defensive and started shouting and left, but we knew that it was guilt that he felt. Lost my darling dad December 2022 and I know that wherever he is, he knows that we loved him for himself and not his money. We just wanted more time with him. Miss you dad
In the song, while dad is in his career and making money and is busy, he doesn’t have time. As his life goes on and he starts to have time, now his son is busy with his friends and then his family.
It's never to late to develop a relationship. My aunt married a guy right out of high school who turned out to be a violent drunk and beat her up regularly. They had a toddler and a new baby when one night he came home and made a move toward the toddler. My aunt left immediately and begged her mother to take her in, which she did after some intervention from her sons. The guy and my aunt got divorced and my cousins didn't see their dad from then on. He kept drinking, married and divorced twice more, then something turned him around. He gave up alcohol, joined AA, married a fourth time and one day called my aunt, apologized, and asked if she would allow him to start spending time with my cousins, his daughters. After some time and a few awkward meetings, he and his wife became part of the family, attending family events and spending time with the girls. They were never as close as if they had grown up with him, but they developed a nice relationship until he passed away about 10 years later.
A thought from way back: "Reality is thermoplastic: the more energy applied, the more malleable it is." Great song. Yep, rhymes with chafing. Does not, however, rub one the wrong way, however close to home it may hit.
I love watching you guys’s reactions. You guys were the first reaction channel I ever watched and thanks to you guys. I’ve discovered a pretty long list of great music. Keep up the good work. Oh by the way, just wanted to let you guys know that apparently Ren gave you guys a shout out.😊
That paradigm has been changing. The divorce rate you bemoan, is because women are no longer obliged legally or culturally to stay in bad marriages. Men have historically always had that option, as well as infidelity w/out social or economic repercussions.
For me, the saddest thing about this song is that for Harry Chapin, it didn't even get to the story in the song for him. The person who rear-ended his taxi kept it from happening.
It obviously shows he prioritized work over family and then his son prioritized something (his family) over his dad. It just shows what priorities are.
'Cats in the Cradle's '91 cover's 'Ugly Kid Joe's tribute to their friend: Josh Chapin: Harry's son, a dark diff' from their funny rocker: "I h*te everything about you!"🌗
Also the song released in ‘74 and he died in a car wreck on the Long Island expressway in ‘81. He was just 38 years old. He didn’t get to see his son grow old
The song is about priorities, and what's really important in life.
I would imagine every generation has an entire population of father/son relationships like this. Time is more valuable than money
Chapins Taxi is well worthy listening to
💯
Taxi, The Mayor of Candor, W.O.L.D and I Wanna Learn a Love Song. Actually anything by him
If you listen to "Taxi" then you need to listen to "Sequel" as well.
This song always hit me. My dad worked in a mill, he worked 12 hour shifts and got 1 weekend off a month. 9 times out of 10 they made him work that one weekend. My mom kept a poem I wrote for an elementary school assignment that was about him. In it I talked about how hard working he was, and how much I loved him, but I wished I could see him more. He worked 4am to 4pm. So when I got up for school he was asleep, and when I got home from school he was already gone. On the weekends I would be asleep when he got home. I would be outside playing all day with neighborhood friends, so he would be at work when I finally came home (the 80s were a different time to be a young kid).
When I grew up I did the exact same thing he did. Even when he was in the nursing home for rehabilitation in 2015 after surgery, I got so caught up with work that I forgot to go visit him for almost 2 weeks. I felt like shit and swore to go see him the next morning. As I was up and getting ready the nurse from the nursing home called and told me he had passed away unexpectedly at 6:30am that morning. In a few months (March 29th, 2025) it will be 10 years since he passed. I still carry the guilt with me.
This song GUTS me. Greatest stories ever told live
Harry Chapin was one of the cofounders for World Hunger Year. A charity that is still around today making efforts that the child goes hungry. He and his band would often perform between 250 and 300 shows a year, with half of them being donated to World Hunger Year or other local charities. Another one of his amazing songs take on education and it's called "Flowers Are Red". It's definitely worth a listen.
Fun Fact: Harry Chapin included various symbols of childhood in the lyrics as reminders of how quickly it ends. "Cat's Cradle" is a game played with string, "Silver Spoons" are ornamental spoons for babies, and "Little Boy Blue" is a nursery rhyme. "Man In The Moon" could be about the human features children see when they look at the moon.
this song came on the radio a number of years back just 2 weeks after my dad passed away, I cried my eyes out. 😭
It's always simultaneously amazed and saddened me at the number of parents who don't realize what they miss by not prioritizing their children.....I'm forever thankful for the memories I have with my son as he grew up. It gives me a small amount of solace since his death in 2009....
When this was written, it was standard for father's to not be involved with their kids lives. To put work 1st and raising the kids was left to the woman. This is one thing that women's lib did that benefited men. As women gained the freedom to have their own career, men gained the right to put family as important as job.
Harry's storytelling is really captivating in his song, "Taxi", about a taxi driver who picks up an old girlfriend and talk about the paths their lives had taken. He followed that up with "Sequel" which follows up years later when they see each other again.
"W.O.L.D." is about an AM radio DJ who has to move around to stay in the industry. All of them are worth checking out.
BTW: It's pronounced, "Chay-pin".
this song hits the feels 100% of the time to every single red blooded American boy and father
W.O.L.D is lesser known but another great song. Great story song.
Never heard this live before. Beautiful performance ❤
I listened to all of Harry's music back in the 70s. Most people have no idea about his wild and edgy story songs such as "Dance Band on the Titanic". He also wrote the most unnerving song I've ever heard. The song is called "Sniper" from the album Sniper and Other Love Songs. He wrote it about what I believe was this country's first mass shooting.
It's a long song so I wouldn't expect you to react to it but it would be great for you guys to listen to it then talk about it when you react to another shorter song such as "Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas".
I guarantee that Sniper will creep you right the F out.
Cheers guys, keep em coming!
You must react to Harry Chapin’s song “Taxi”. It’s his first hit single. He performed it on Carson’s Tonight Show in his first appearance and got such an ovation that Johnny invited him back THE NEXT NIGHT, which was unprecedented.
Good one. I think this song is about balance in life. Including sadness for missed bonding as well as sympathy to the man who needs to be away to provide the best life to the family. You wondered if he may have been shunned by the mom. I don't think so, Harry covers that in the song, W.O.L.D. A song that is worth a listen, after Taxi.
Morning guys! Ya that song is touching..i like how they had the intro of the son talking...❤
The most important thing in life is time with your family, You can have all the money in the world but it will never replace having time with your family.👍❤️
Harry is the original
It's how Parents teach their children parenting by actions, not words.
My eyes are leaking now
I was really young when this came out. Great arrangement and singer but even being so young, I knew it was so sad. I could only listen to it a couple times and then would turn the radio station when it would play. I didn't want to be sad every time I'd hear it.
I still have my father and this song makes me cry. So beautifully written! I didn’t know the story behind the chorus until now. And his voice just pulls at every strand of my parent brain. I think it can be applied many ways as to fit the situation. What I get out of it is children cherish your parents and parents cherish your children. Peace and love
Smokey said it, "that's how life works"
The only times it’s acceptable to cry as a man is when this song comes on and when a pro sports person dies.
Remember at this time men were the primary bread maker and the mother's stayed home with the kids. So dad's didn't have as much time. Also back then parents were more parents and not friends of their kids. Much different than now.
In the song, it was about work.
The song wasnt autobiographical...He died at 38....he hadnt retired and his son likely wasnt college age yet. His wife wrote a poem...and he turned it into a song after their son was born...so it wasn't about him and his son.
If memory serves, the poem that this was created from was about his wife's dad and his relationship with his son...her brother. Harry wrote the music for it and made it his own with his style. It's not really about Harry and his relationship with his son.
Very emotional song ❤
Cannot shed a tear at the final verse. 😢
I think it’s the way people worked back then. My husband traveled two weeks out of the month for work. We did what we could back in the 80’s and 90’s.
My dad never came to any school sports, always working. He did become extremely successful and we kids benefited greatly financially from that, but we just wanted his time. He gave us so much time to us as children but as we got older and he became more successful it all changed. My sister and I tried to tell him that we would rather that he visit than pay for an overseas trip and he got so defensive and started shouting and left, but we knew that it was guilt that he felt. Lost my darling dad December 2022 and I know that wherever he is, he knows that we loved him for himself and not his money. We just wanted more time with him. Miss you dad
Harry is one of the greatest storytellers, check out A Better Place To Be, preferably the live version from Greatest Stories Live.
In the song, while dad is in his career and making money and is busy, he doesn’t have time. As his life goes on and he starts to have time, now his son is busy with his friends and then his family.
Taxi and Mr Tanner 2 amazing songs with amazing stories. Harry Chapin was a master story teller. And an incredible guitar player
Taxi is another great story.
It's never to late to develop a relationship. My aunt married a guy right out of high school who turned out to be a violent drunk and beat her up regularly. They had a toddler and a new baby when one night he came home and made a move toward the toddler. My aunt left immediately and begged her mother to take her in, which she did after some intervention from her sons. The guy and my aunt got divorced and my cousins didn't see their dad from then on. He kept drinking, married and divorced twice more, then something turned him around. He gave up alcohol, joined AA, married a fourth time and one day called my aunt, apologized, and asked if she would allow him to start spending time with my cousins, his daughters. After some time and a few awkward meetings, he and his wife became part of the family, attending family events and spending time with the girls. They were never as close as if they had grown up with him, but they developed a nice relationship until he passed away about 10 years later.
A thought from way back: "Reality is thermoplastic: the more energy applied, the more malleable it is."
Great song. Yep, rhymes with chafing. Does not, however, rub one the wrong way, however close to home it may hit.
daryll dmc mcdaniels also did a version that samples this and he featured sarah mclachlan because they had the fact they are both adopted in common
Another great storyteller is Bobby Gentry-Ode to Billy Joe
I love watching you guys’s reactions. You guys were the first reaction channel I ever watched and thanks to you guys. I’ve discovered a pretty long list of great music. Keep up the good work. Oh by the way, just wanted to let you guys know that apparently Ren gave you guys a shout out.😊
Ugly Kid Joe did a cover of this in the 80's, it was in heavy rotation on MTV
That paradigm has been changing. The divorce rate you bemoan, is because women are no longer obliged legally or culturally to stay in bad marriages. Men have historically always had that option, as well as infidelity w/out social or economic repercussions.
I love your reactions😀 keep it up!
My favourite cover was by *Johnny Cash*
This song reminded me of Canadian group and song - *"Mashmakhan - As The Years Go By"*
What a deep song
Twisted insane underground psycho plz plz
Check out Taxi . It’s another great story.
For me, the saddest thing about this song is that for Harry Chapin, it didn't even get to the story in the song for him. The person who rear-ended his taxi kept it from happening.
Eidiupus rex had free will but fate still won
It obviously shows he prioritized work over family and then his son prioritized something (his family) over his dad. It just shows what priorities are.
You gotta do Taxi and he Sequel. More great stories.
Ugly Kid Joe did an amazing cover of this song!
Ugly Kid Joe has a really awesome cover of this
After watching this, you should check out Ugly kid Joe's '92's cover of this song.
Taxi or Mr. Tanner
@@kansas1mjs483 absolutely LOVE Mr Tanner. What a heartbreaker.
❤❤❤❤❤
'Cats in the Cradle's '91 cover's 'Ugly Kid Joe's tribute to their friend: Josh Chapin: Harry's son, a dark diff' from their funny rocker: "I h*te everything about you!"🌗
Must do
TAXI
another deep story telling song
❤❤😢😭
Ugly Kid Joe does a really good version of this song.
Be careful what you say. It could come true.
Pink elk 30
Be sure to check out the parody Cats In The Kettle. Maybe on your own time because it's from long ago and is most certainly not politically correct.
Damn. That’s some serious over analyzing.
The mom wrote the song before their son was even born.
Seven minutes to get to the song is too long..
Majority of the time covers aren't as good as the original version. But ugly kid Joe does a great job on it
Ugly kid Joe version is way better.
No it's not.