{"id":14433,"date":"2012-06-17T15:45:57","date_gmt":"2012-06-17T21:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=14433"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:06:43","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:06:43","slug":"for-fathers-day-harry-chapins-son-talks-about-cats-in-the-cradle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/06\/for-fathers-day-harry-chapins-son-talks-about-cats-in-the-cradle\/","title":{"rendered":"For Father’s Day: Harry Chapin’s son talks about “Cat’s in the Cradle”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Below, Harry Chapin performs what may be his best-known and most enduring song \u2014 and the subject of it, his son, talks about his father, who died when he was very young.<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\nMeantime, there\u2019s great information about how the song came to be at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harrychapin.com\/circle\/winter04\/behind.htm%20\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">this website<\/strong>,<\/a> quoting Chapin\u2019s wife, Sandy, who wrote the poem that became the basis of the song. \u00a0\u201cCat\u2019s in the Cradle\u201d became Chapin\u2019s only #1 hit:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\u201cHarry wrote exactly the right upbeat melody over a sad lyric, and it was very catchy and repeatable so people could sing it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe other thing is there is probably a twitch in people\u2019s brain from their childhood, a familiarity. It was a happy combination of circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\nWhen Harry\u2019s album \u201cVerities and Balderdash\u201d was about to be released, David Geffen, the interim president of Geffen Records, selected \u201cCat\u2019s in the Cradle\u201d as the album\u2019s lead single.<\/p>\n\u201cHarry came home and told me that, and I said you can\u2019t do that; it\u2019s ridiculous. That song will only appeal to 45-year-old men, and they don\u2019t buy records,\u201d said Sandy. The song went to number one, and it was Harry\u2019s only number one record. \u201cIt just goes to show how wrong you can be,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\u201cI think the reason people responded and continue to respond is because it is a real life story, and everybody has a piece of that experience,\u201d said Sandy. \u201cWe still get letters about that song today. Parents responded by deciding they were going to do better and be home for their kids more.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe whole point of the story is that we learn our lessons in life by making mistakes, by trial and error, by experience,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cIt would be great if we could learn about the future ahead of time, but we have to learn the hard way. It\u2019s like the old saying\u2013too old too soon, too wise too late.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Below, Harry Chapin performs what may be his best-known and most enduring song \u2014 and the subject of it, his son, talks about his father, who died when he was very young. Meantime, there\u2019s great information about how the song came to be at this website, quoting Chapin\u2019s wife, Sandy, who wrote the poem that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[339],"class_list":["post-14433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-fathers-day"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>For Father's Day: Harry Chapin's son talks about "Cat's in the Cradle"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Below, Harry Chapin performs what may be his best-known and most enduring song -- and the subject of it, his son, talks about his father, who died when he\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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