Harry Chapin – Cat’s in the Cradle

“Cat’s in the Cradle” – Single by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash
Released October 1, 1974.

This heartbreaking song tells of a father and son who can’t schedule time to be with each other, and it serves as a warning against putting one’s career before family. The verses start out with a natural harmony and depict the tale of a father with his newborn son. Although dad gets the necessities of child rearing accomplished, he doesn’t allow himself to put in quality time with his son because of his career. Initially, this seems like no big deal because of his hectic and oblivious life working and paying bills.

The recurring verse has the son saying, “I’m gonna be like you Dad, you know I’m gonna be like you…”

Over time, both father and son grow into a switching of life roles. The father realizes his son’s ambitions of college, grades, and driving, and wants to spend more time with him, yet slowly grasps the reality that now his son has no time for such things. In the last verse, Chapin illustrates that the son is all grown up with a fast-paced job and kids of his own. In a glaring twist of roles, we see that the son now has no time to spend with his father. With a heavy heart, dad realizes that his boy has become just like him.

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Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle

Harry Chapin - Cats in the Cradle03:58

Released in October 1974, the heartbreaking tale of a man too busy to spend time with his son until it’s too late struck a chord with music listeners across the country. Enough that “Cat’s in the Cradle” rose up the charts to peak at #1 on the Hot 100 over the week of December 22, 1974. It still stands as Chapin’s only #1 on the mainstream chart. Over on the Adult Contemporary chart, the song peaked at #6.

Chapin’s influence was so strong during the decade that when Billy Joel broke out with an emotional “story song” of his own, many believed it to be a new Harry Chapin single.

Chapin’s recording of the song was nominated for the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011

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