a voice sorely missed
all lyrics written by Harry Chapin
WARNING:
Harry was a wordy guy and I adored him
so look out ;-)
I could whistle up an old tune
That your memory might recall
Rustle up some reminisce
'Bout the good old days and all
from Harry Chapin's "If My Mary Were Here"
'Cause you're my dancing boy
And it's so scary how you trust me
Just one look from you
And I come pouring out like wine
Dancing boy, I'm sure by now that you must see
Your dancing means much more to me
Than any dream of mine
from "Dancin' Boy"
There are lessons to life
That the lovers got to learn
There are corners out there
You know they're waitin' somewhere
And you've got to be prepared to turn
There are callouses that come
That the lovers got to earn
In the years of your youth
You can't be fire proof
You know you've got to get burned
from "If You Want To Feel"
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
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
from "I Wonder What Would Happen To This World"
Why did the little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grew tall
The boys were taught to tumble
The girls told not to fall
The girls answered the telephones
The boys answered the call
That's why little girls grew crooked
While the little boys grew tall
Why were the little girls all frightened
To be just what they are
The boys were told to ask themselves
How high how far
The girls were told to reach the shelves
While the boys were reaching stars
That's why little girls were frightened
To be just what they are
Why did little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grew tall
It's maybe because the little boys
Didn't ever have to grow up at all
from "Why Do Little Girls"
The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and he 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"
And she said
"Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
But the little boy said
"There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one"
Well the teacher said "You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me"
And she said
"Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
But the little boy said again
"There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one"
The teacher put him in a corner
She said "It's for your own good
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should"
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said ... and he said
"Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin'
She said "Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one"
But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said ... and he said
"Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
(in live version on "Legends of the Lost and Found")
But there still must be a way to have our children say
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one
"Flowers Are Red"
(the whole song, a personal choice on account of my son)
Somebody said ... Where's the music goin'
Somebody said ... It's gone
Somebody said ... With this bad wind a blowin'
Will the music keep a rolling on
I had to ask myself
Why it's makin' me
A minstrel man from cradle to grave
Should there be somewhere else
It could be takin' me
As it rolls on over like a wave
Somebody said ... We got to find the words
Got to, got to be an answer there
Somebody said that ... You never get heard
'Cause nobody really cares
Somebody said ... Where are the dreamers
Somebody said ... Dead
Somebody said ... Here come the holy rollers
Tryin' to sell us all the screamers instead
from "Somebody Said"
Well, I've long since retired, 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 with the flu
But it's sure nice talkin' to you, Dad,
It's been sure nice talkin' to you."
And as I hung up the phone it occured to me,
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
from 'Cat's In The Cradle"
The old six string was all I had
to keep my belly still
and for each full hour lessson I gave
I got a crisp ten dollar bill
She was married for seven years
to a concrete castle king
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
and to hear her children sing
So I'd show up about once a week
in my faded tight-legged jeans
with a backlog full of hobo stories
and dilapidated dreams
I came one week and the den was dark
and she met me at the door
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
till I could not sing no more
The silence kept on building
her eyes grew much too wide
and I could hear both of our heartbeats
but there was no place to hide
Well, I guess you know what happened
God, I never been so clean
Yes, I feel like I'm working in a Hollywood movie
or living out a good bad dream
And all them pinup girls in that tinsel world
never touched me like she can
it took another man's wife in the real world life
to make this boy a man
from "I Wanna Learn A Love Song"
He was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But she could make them holy
Holy
He was dancing to some music
No one else had ever heard
He'd speak in unknown languages
And she would translate every word
And when the world was laughing
At his castles in the sky
She held him in her body
Until he once again could fly
He took off east one morning
Towards the rising sun's red glow
She knew he was going nowhere
But of course she let him go
And as she stood and watched him dwindle
Much too empty to be sad
He reappeared beside her
Saying "You're all I've ever had"
from "Shooting Star"
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror
And she glanced at the license for my name
A smile seemed to come to her slowly
It was a sad smile, just the same
And she said, "How are you Harry?"
I said, "How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
and the too little smiles
I still remember you."
Baby's so high that she's skying
Yes she's flying, afraid to fall
I'll tell you why baby's crying
Cause she's dying, aren't we all
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
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
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off for the sky
And here, she's acting happy
Inside her handsome home
And me, I'm flying in my taxi
Taking tips, and getting stoned
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned
from "Taxi"
I thought about taking a limousine
Or at least a fancy car
But I ended up taking a taxi
'Cause that's how I got this far
And the look on her face as she opened the door
Was like an old joke told by a friend
It'd taken ten more years but she'd found her smile
And I watched the corners start to bend
She said "I've heard you flying high on my radio"
I answered "It's not all it seems"
That's when she laughed and she said, "It's better sometimes
When we don't get to touch our dreams."
So we talked all through that afternoon
Talking about where we'd been
We talked of the tiny difference
Between ending and starting to begin
We talked 'cause talking tells you things
Like what you really are thinking about
But sometimes you can't find what you're feeling
Till all the words run out
Don't ask me if I made love to her
Or which one of us started to cry
Don't ask me why she wouldn't take the money that I left
If I answered at all I'd lie
from "Sequel"
Well, my little boy he told me something
Just the other night
He whispered it as I kissed him
Before I turned out the light
And of course he said it simple
As only children can
He said "Daddy, daddy, daddy, please
I'm ready to dream again."
from "I Miss America"
Listen to the seasons passing
Listen to the wind blow
Listen to the children laughing
Where do broken dreams go?
from "Dreams Go By"
You are a drawer full of makeup and rinses and things
You keep changing your moods like your earrings and rings
But tonight while we played tag for five minutes in the yard
Just for a moment I caught you off guard
But now you write your secret poems
In a room just for your dreams
You don't find time to talk to me
About the things you mean
And what I mean is ...
I have watched you take shape from a jumble of parts
And find the grace and form of a fine work of art
Hey, you, my brand new woman, newly come into your own
Don't you know that you don't need to grow up all alone
from "Tangled Up Puppet"
Was I looking for a star or something else behind it?
Whatever I was looking for, I surely did not find it
And for all my sky high journeys the only thing I know
Is that you almost always lose yourself when you let yourself go
from "Star Tripper"
Sandy is my mirror
There are secrets in her eyes
And every single morning
She dawns a new disguise
She has caught the mystery
Of all that's wild and free
Oh yes, I see the world in her
For she means the world to me
from "Sandy"
(Harry's widow)
My Corey's coming
No more sad stories coming
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory's coming aren't you girl?
And like I told you, when she holds you
She enfolds you in her world
from "Corey's Coming"
Wow! The lead singer's raucous
As he screams out the truth
Then the band hold a caucus
And decides to sell their youth
Our manager will hawk us
As along as we're uncouth
We'll call it revolution
But we'll crank out Bubble Gum
Can't you see we're all just travellers
On the Road to Kingdom Come
So Billy sells hot sermons
And cold wars through the mails
While Mr. Big is selling out
His business never fails
King Kennedy like Chaucer's
Chasing Canterbury Tales
And my brain is still a virgin
Though the rest of me's well done
And I know we're all just travellers
On the Road to Kingdom Come
When all is said and done
Just another one
from "On The Road To Kingdom Come"
But music was his life
it was not his livelihood
and it made him feel so happy
and it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart
and he sang from his soul
He did not know how well he sang
It just made him whole
from "Mr. Tanner"
I've had my share of heartaches, misfortune and mistakes
Occasion'ly this life has left me battered
But I can't blame no one else, 'cause what I've done to myself
is the only kind of history that matters
from "Everybody's Lonely"
Your heart's a sacred kingdom that has colonized my soul
My past a shattered fragment that somehow you've made whole
Today's your gift to fondle, your offering to feel
Tomorrow is the promise that somehow you've made real
So I'll sing you every silly, sad, and happy song I know
And you'll open every part of you that you've got left to show
And I'll pour myself around you like the sunshine drowns the field
And in that golden softness we will yield
from "Legends Of The Lost And Found"
I've sung it all tonight
Almost every story that I know
And now when they turn out the spotlights
I'm not sure where I'm s'posed to go
And I'm so hoarse I can't hit the high notes
It's just a whisper when I'm low
But when you sing from the inside
You hope that something shows
And that it why
Yes you are the only song, the only song I need
You're my laughter and you're my lonely song
You're the harvest and you're the seed
And you're my first and my final song
For you own me indeed
Oh yes, oh yes,
Yes, after all is said and done
You're the one song that I need
I've sung my songs to silence
To empty clubs and crowded bars
I've sung my songs to standing room
Even sung 'em to the stars
But the faces they fade together
And the applause it's gone so fast
And the story of every darkened stage
Is that the glory just does not last
And that it why
Yes, after all is said and done
You're the one song that I need
"You Are The Only Song"
All my life's a circle
Sunrise and sundown
Moon rolls thru the nighttime
Till the daybreak comes around
All my life's a circle
But I can't tell you why
Season's spinning round again
The years keep rollin' by
from "Circle"
Remember when the music
came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire
and as we sang the words
it would set our minds on fire
for we believed in things and so we'd sing
And I dream that something's coming
And it's not just in the wind
It's more than just tomorrow
It's more than where we've been
It offers me a promise
It's telling me, begin
I know we're needing something worth believing in
from "Remember When The Music"
Story Of A Life
in my mind, Harry's storyI can see myself it's a golden sunrise
Young boy open up your eyes
It's supposed to be your day
Now off you go horizon bound
And you won't stop until you've found
Your own kind of way
And the wind will whip your tousled hair
The sun, the rain, the sweet despair
Great tales of love and strife
And somewhere on your path to glory
You will write your story of a life
And all the towns that you walk through
And all the people that you talk to
Sing you their songs
And there are times you change your stride
There are times you can't decide
Still you go on
And then the young girls dance their gypsy tunes
And share the secrets of the moon
So soon you find a wife
And though she sees your dreams go poorly
Still she joins your story of a life
So you settle down and the children come
And you find a place that you come from
Your wandering is done
And all your dreams of open spaces
You find in your children's faces
One by one
And all the trips you know you missed
And all the lips you never kissed
Cut through you like a knife
And now you see stretched out before thee
Just another story of a life
So what do you do now?
When she looks at you now?
You know those same old jokes all the jesters tell
You tell them to her now
And all the same old songs all the mistrels sang
You sing 'em to her now
But it don't matter anyhow
'Cause she knows by now
So every chance you take don't mean a thing
What variations can you bring
To this shopworn melody
And every year goes by like a tollin' bell
It's battered merchandise you sell
Not well, she can see
And though she's heard it all a thousand times
Couched in your attempted ryhmes
She'll march to your drum and fife
But the question echoes up before me
Where's the magic story of a life?
Now sometimes words can serve me well
Sometimes words can go to hell
For all that they do
And for every dream that took me high
There's been a dream that's passed me by
I know it's so true
And I can see it clear out to the end
And I'll whisper to her now again
Because she shared my life
For more than all the ghosts of glory
She makes up the story
She's the only story
Of my life
Next artist: Kate Bush
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