Harry Chapin

It was just after dark when the truck started down The hill that leads into Scranton Pennsylvania. Carrying thirty thousand pounds of bananas. Carrying thirty thousand pounds (hit it Big John) of bananas. He was a young driver, Just out on his second j...

It was an early mornin' bar room And the place just opened up And the little man came in so fast And he started at his cups And the broad who served the whiskey She was a big old friendly girl She tried to fight her empty nights By smilin' at the world...

When I met America, I didn't know her name But it seems she was something special even then I knew it just the same Yes, I loved the things she stood for Help the helpless make people free And I knew that an American is what I wanted to be It was the s...

Well, I've sung out one more evening, and I'm wrung out, feeling beat. I walk on out the door once more to an empty city street. A Good guitar will serve you well when you're living in the lights but it's never going to warm you in the middle of the nig...

She wasn't very pretty, She wasn't very smart, But everything she said to him came strait from her heart. Write a song about me, Sing a song that's of my day, Everybody special in there ordinary way. Looking for an anthem, He was looking for a song,...

Turning on my pillow, thinking kind of strange. The color is of midnight in this room. The cars outside are coughing and it's kind of hard to sleep and there's neon out the window, not the moon. And it was just an any old kind of day, The kind that comes...

When I rearrange the pieces of the puzzle of my past I sigh at the heartaches, relive the laughs And I think about the moments that have left their mark And the too few faces that shine a little light in the dark If you don't mind I'm gonna tell you a sto...

Oh, barefoot boy, once he came unto a land of forests, and of streams that tumbled through the meadows to the sea. He called it home for many were its wonders and he learned to live upon the land taking only what he needed. Barefoot boy he don't like t...

So you're 13 and there's a silent scream out there, And you can hear it. Just your basic protest song. Now you're 16 and there's a danger in the air, And you can see it. Just your basic protest song. Turnin' 20 and it's around you everywhere, And you...

The kid heard the word up in Brooklyn. It was his second year of medical school. He went and stashed some jeans into his guitar case, His father said, "You're a fool". But the boy jumped on board a Greyhound bus, It took him two days to get to Mobile, An...

His mama was a midnight woman His daddy was a drifter drummer One night they put it together Nine months later came the little black bummer He was a laid back lump in the cradle Chewing the paint chips that fell from the ceiling Whenever he cried he got...

She was crazy (she was beautiful), I guess she had to be. I was angry (you were blind), because I could not see. I saw only what her cigarettes had done to her skin. I should have known the outside world would reveal what was within. She was burning her...

I could tell you that I get asked a lot of times How I can change the world I've also have been asked a lot of times How I can be a rock and roll singer And do you see what's on the end of my fingers? Calluses and what that means is If you're willing to play...

Caroline Comes from the rain Glistening and shivering She laughs as she shakes off the weather Caroline Whispers her words Saying she'll always love me At least when we are together Caroline Starts closing in Surrounding the spot Where wa...

My child arrived just the other day He came to the world in the usual way But there were planes to catch and bills to pay He learned to walk while I was away And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad You know...

I was cramped into a coffee house pew two dollar coke in my hand listening to the music run through and out of a drowning man. Ten years ago I first heard him singing to a screaming crazy crowd now there's thirteen loyal people trying to sound that loud...

All my life's a circle Sunrise and sundown The moon rose through the nighttime Till the day break comes around All my life's a circle But I can't tell you why The seasons spinning round again The years keep rolling by It seems like I've been here before I can...

If you were looking for a way to make me mad it was a sure fire way you found Acting like a half wit fool, laying your money around Well I came back here to tell you Lou, 'bout what you almost did Don't you ever put the cash on the counter Lou, when I'm wit...

Old john joseph was a man with two first names They left him in the railroad yard when they took away the trains. And only one run a week comes on roaring down that line So all he got to worry 'bout is time. I come by in the evening, to hear 'bout where h...

She moved so well 'cause she was a dancer, She went sliding through my questions, gliding 'round the answer. Whatever it was, she knew it was holy, And each time I tried to hold her her smile came sad and slowly. She said, "No one knows me." Could yo...

This phone's growing into my ear I made three hundred calls today, Though yours is the only voice that I wanna hear I got to make me a living someway. I know you hate me doing this You say I'm selling out, But how in the hell is a mad s'posed to live?...

Dance band on the Titanic Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me Mama stood cryin' at the dockside Sayin' "Please son, don't take this trip" I said "Mama, sweet Mama, don't you worry none" "Even God co...

Danceband on the Titanic Sing, 'Nearer, my God, to Thee' The iceberg's on the starboard bow Won't you dance with me Mama stood cryin' at the dockside Sayin', "Please son, don't take this trip" I said, "Mama, sweet Mama, don't you worry none Even God co...

When your daddy plays guitar, You dance without a smile. Kid you may not have great rhythm, But you sure got style. Just four years old and still it seems, You've got it figured out. When daddy sings, and then you dance, The people clap and shout. Cuz...

Now he was a man who worked with his hands Only in a motor he found peace He could make an engine sing like a bird He could find his only kind of release When he was up to the elbows in the grease. She dreamed of a time for painting As she was cleaning...

In the sixties I wrote about four hundred songs Before anybody even paid any attention And they, they fit into two categories They were my, my protest songs Which, I was known as Gaypin Chapin in those days And uh, in my, my protest songs had the implica...

Up in Massachusetts There's a little spit of land. The men who make the maps, yes, they call the place Cape Ann. The men who do the fishing call it Gloucester Harbor Sound, But the women left behind, they call the place Dogtown. The men go out for whaling...

There you stand in your dungarees, Lookin all grown up and so very pleased. When you write your poems they have so much to say, When you speak your dreams it takes my breath away. Ya know I wanna be a ball player, A regular sluggin fool. But I guess our...

Empty closet, empty heart. Empty morning, day won't start. Well, I got no place to go now, I really do not know how to like my life, now that you're gone. Empty mailbox, empty head. Empty promise, empty bed. I really can't believe in the thought of you...

All I got is time, Nothing else is mine. All I want is you and one more tomorrow. Nothing lasts to long, When I leave it's gone. So I send my mind ahead and hope to follow. Yes, I know I have a lifetime coming, But I've got it all figured out, Everybody...

It's just no good-- (Fall in love with him) You know that you should (Fall in love with him) I wish that you would (Fall in love with him) If only you could (Fall in love with him). More than my friend he's been my brother He's said to me he's dreame...

Little boy on the first day of school Got some crayons and started to draw He drew 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 "It's not the time for art, young ma...

Harry: "And the excitement continues to build! Eat your heart out, Peter Frampton.") It seems like two months 'Though I met her tonight Something just told me It would work out alright So I asked her to act out What was there in our heads No need for g...

Oh God Babe, you've been good for me Good when I been barely holding on and you did what you could for me When all the ones I counted on were gone You picked me up in your battered blue Volkswagen, babe You laid me down on the mattress on the floor t...

It's midnight at the depot And I drag my bags in line. Travellin' light, I got to go But the bus won't be on time. Everybody's looking half alive. Later on the bus arrives. They punch my ticket I find a seat And we move out past the lights....

There's no tick tock on your electric clock But still your life runs down. There's no tick tock on your electric clock But still your life runs down. I'm halfway to heaven and my home in Forest Hills It's halfpast eleven and I've got some time to kill....

I first heard you sing in the Empire Room Your husky hum engulfed the gloom. And whatever mission that brought me there Disappeared in the mist of your amber hair You laughed and surrendered your gifts by degrees But I was convinced that you spoke only t...

Just after I was born, my father said to everyone That I would be the President one day You're a natural politician, boy, get it in your head And you know that it might just turn out that way So through all the years of my childhood There more important t...

A new day is beginning I can feel it in my bones It's not what you are winning It don't matter what you own It is more than just a feeling More than just a song It's something like a healing And I feel it coming strong Oh yeah, ah yeah We have got ou...

By the time I was thirteen I started taking shape. At eighteen I was so beautiful That the strangers started to gape. They said "Enter the ultimate contest If you're as gorgeous as you seem." They said "Please, please, please Be our American dream." Bu...

I come fresh from the street, fast on my feet, Kinda crass and corny. Not much meat on my bones and a whole lotta loans And more than a little bit horny. The old six string was all i had, to keep my belly still. And for each full hour lesson i gave, I...

I'm the green young gentleman, and you're the lady with the past I admit I'm insecure about how long we will last I sort through in my mind the little that I know But the only things I find from where my musings go Is that kind of confusion that just makes...

Oh well I wonder Yes I wonder What would happen What would happen to this world Well I wonder what would happen to this world 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...

I would not be so stoned If my Mary were here I don't think I'd have phoned you If my Mary were here I'm a sad sack Sir Galahad Who's sword's around his knees With a Grail no longer holy And a prayer that's saying - please I would not be alone If my M...

Oh God they got you gun shy You know your skin's as cold as ice Your eyes are double filtered babe You're so afraid to be nice There's no way you're ready To let your defenses down Though I won't come on heavy There is a lesson that I've found If you...

Just after I screamed at you-- What the hell is it all about You spilled your coffee Onto my sleeve And you said Don't expect the tears To come from me babe For I've already grieved But that's when you let me Back into your dream And I know you're...

Just after I screamed at you-- What the hell is it all about You spilled your coffee Onto my sleeve And you said Don't expect the tears To come from me babe For I've already grieved But that's when you let me Back into your dream And I know you're...

It was when I rode off in my daydreams Chasing that vision of light It was then I got caught in the jet stream And I dropped through a hole in the night And I knew it's not you that I run from I saw each of us living alone And I prayed that you still cou...

He's the last of the protest singers, Selling truth and commitment, He don't get much work these days, He's billed as a novelty act, And he stands there with his thumb out, Hitching a ride towards the rainbow, That only he sees shining there, They say h...

It used to be that old John Wayne Would fight the good fight once again, Find the strength to bear the pain, Stand up til he'd finally fall. But now it's not just movie time, And now it's you that's on the line. And now it's you that's going to find If...

Did you ever hear the one about... Oh, God I love myself When i've got it on i know I'll live forever babe All my fears are gone Then suddenly I'm dying They turned the laugh track off I'm drowning in the silence Crucified by coughs Oh, I am the la...

We are the lovers, we are bound to one another By a bond that is invisible yet stronger still than time. And we're locked into the motion that moves beneath the ocean. Rolling toward the future that makes pain the only crime. Now I know you are the answer....

I let time go lightly when I'm here with you, I let time go lightly when the day is through. I keep a watch on time when I've have work to do, I let time go lightly with you. Morning, a time for breaking ground and sowing seeds, and yet we give up our...

Time, time, time, it's telling you the story. Truth, truth, truth, a secret never heard. Peace, peace, peace, you know I don't believe it. Love, love, love, it's just another word. Hey, brother, you are bleeding'; you're black and brown and yellow, you k...

At first I did not think it could be you, But you're the only one who got off the train. Yes, you must be my wife--Miss Annie Halsey. I guess I am your husband, Hello, I'm Harry Crane. Mail Order Annie Never mind your cryin'. Your tears are sweet rain...

I was laughing horizontally In my loose and lusty youth I was feeling well self-satisfied Deliciously uncouth When she slipped out from my covers With a smile Saying, "You've got a lot to learn, dear boy It's going to take a while." She said-- Manhoo...

It's a slow motion night In the hot city lights Past time when the good folks Are snoring in bed On a loose-jointed cruise To recolor your blues With illegal notions alive, Alive in your head You are back from some war That you've been fighting for...

At first you seemed just like my dream Of a finer better life Much more than I could ask for In a lover or a wife Though I work with my body And my work makes my hands rough There are gentle things inside me That are anything but tough There are lesso...

Mister Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest. And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best. But he also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes. He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows. His friends an...

She wore an S.E.G. when she came back home Like the cat that ate the canary And I stood befuddled, a chauvanist stud With his mistress quite contrary I was smack up against the moment I was afraid i would face someday But the truth is a wall that you can...

I'm a strummin' fool out in the sticks For the glory and the bread And you're wise enough to let me sing This music in my head. And if there's any way to get there Strumming head on out I go driven hard to pick up old 222 en route. But now they've g...

When November rains it rides the cool wind you need somebody holding you tight When November rains you need somebody caring you want somebody sharing your night When November rains that's when it all falls down there are clues When November rains an...

I give part time help I'm the odd job man I can't do what I want So I do what I can And I'll tell you now So that you will understand You get just what you pay for from the odd job man One day this dude drives in the station And I slide out to the pum...

Of course I picked a rainy night To try to find our past The street lights all were flickering The leaves were falling fast I walked down the winding road Looked up through the trees And I saw the corner window That you once shared with me It was Old...

He's the man with the banjo and the 12-string guitar. And he's singing us the songs that tell us who we are. When you look in his eyes you know that somebody's in there. Yeah, he knows where we're going and where we been And how the fog is gettin' thicker...

The Smoke Witch says - Wahoo! And the Wise Man says - Me too! And the Guru says - Wazoo! So do what you do! The priests stand in their pulpits The Pope sits on his throne The parishes are empty The choirboys on their own Until the Second Coming They'...

One light in a dark valley And the mist is falling like rain One light in a dark valley And I'm alone again One light in a dark valley And I am all alone One light in a dark valley Is all I can call my own One light in a dark valley And the darkness...

Well I hear you are a painter now Though you're almost halfway through You pulled a pallet knife, you cut away a wife And you started something new But it was not the strife of married life That ordained what you would do A quick look back through your...

Frozen in each town and village, In the central square, Never in a dark museum, But in the open air, A monument to model glory, Wars that we have won....Surely, All of us had heard the stories, How his deeds were done, Awwwwwwwwww.......Pigeon Run T...

You're a livin' walkin' dream You're the best I've ever seen, Oh God I wanted you. I've often dreamed what I would do, If I could give myself to you, Oh God I wanted to. But up 'til now you've not been free to be Foolin' around with the likes of...

He's the little pretzel man, he's got his twisted pretzel hands He's got his a pretzel wife, that he's loved all his pretzel life And he's got himself a pretzel girl, that they both brought into their world And watch them all twist pretzels by hand, by hand...

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. Remember when the music Brought us all together to stand inside the rain And...

You keep looking out my window At the driftwood floating by Like a flock of birds in falltime You're just itching to fly I know I cannot hold you Cause you live life to the hilt So go on get out of here girl I don't want your guilt. Go on and roll dow...

The old sailor sat at the window seat So he could watch as the ships went by And he drank from a glass that was always filled For the rest of us would buy. And he would tell us tales about the ships that sailed When he was young and strong. And when he...

They just told me take a pause Here between the takes at the studio And you came into my mind It's kind of funny, for you were the cause Of me being here on the radio And though that's another time I'm still wanting you I've been hunting for you I'm...

Sandy is the seashore And Sandy is the sea Sandy is the clear blue sky Or so it seems to me Yes I see her everywhere In everything I see She can turn to anything That she would like to be Sandy is the summer's day She laughs inside the brook Sandy i...

Saturday morning and it's growing light. I look out my window and remember the night. The story is starting or the story ends And I feel like I need you again. Time used to mose softly when I was at home. It went on without me, and left me alone. Now it...

So here she's actin' happy inside her handsome home And me, I'm flyin' in my taxi, takin' tips and gettin' stoned. I got into town a little early. Had eight hours to kill before the show. First I thought about heading up north of the bay Then I knew wher...

She has no fear of failure, she's not bent with broken dreams. For the future's just beginning when you're always seventeen It was nineteen sixty-one when we went to Washington; She put her arms around me and said, "Camelot's begun." We listened to his vi...

I was thrown on the cobblestones, tossed at her feet My fool's mouth was filled with the dust from the street An out of work court jester with nowhere to go And no need to speak, for she seemed to know She sings the songs without words Songs that sailors...

He was crazy of course From the first she must have known it But still she went on with him And she never once had shown it And she took him off the street And she dried his tears of grieving She listened to his visions She believed in his believ...

Have you ever been up Have you ever been down Have you ever been lost Have you ever been found Have you ever been right Have you ever been wrong Have you come up short Can you come along Have you left a mark Have you left alone Have you seen the way...

I was packed up in my knapsack my guitar case slung up over my back about to hit that dream road once again saw the vision in my mirror about how the springtime was getting nearer so ill be back, babe, but I really don't know when see the rainbow in the...

The very day I purchased it, I christened my guitar as my monophonic symphony, six string orchestra In my room I'd practice late, they'd leave me alone. My mother said, "You're nothing yet, to make the folks write home." I'd play at all the tale...

It is an early Monday morning. The sun is becoming bright on the land. No one is watching as he comes a walking. Two bulky suitcases hang from his hands. He heads towards the tower that stands in the campus. He goes through the door, he starts up the sta...

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...

My name is Jenny and I am four fingers old Mostly I just try to do the things that I am told But when they say that I'm too young a girl to ride a bike I may be just four fingers old but I know what I like Someone keeps calling my name Someone keeps call...

It was a very cold September, Colder than I'd ever care to make it. I had a kind of empty feeling, But no place to go where I could take it. So I took a walk beside the railroad tracks, and I thought about the facts of my life And of my sometime, somewh...

It's a song for myself just a song for myself You don't have to listen babe it's just a song for myself But since I fell in love with you it's brought some thoughts to mind if we're gonna raise us a couple of kids I've got to worry 'bout future times D...

Well I don't know about inflation Who makes what inflate Each new taste sensation I don't know why it rates And though in my imagination I'm sure of how I feel My present hesitation Is I'm afraid it's real Some times these days it's hard to choose Th...

I have made a little music in some corners of the land I have fused some crystal images from common grains of sand And if I haven't reached the heavens, I've surely learned to fly I've been caught up in the soaring and the touching of the sky But the star...

Stop singing these sad songs Just tell me 'bout the good times I have heard that cold hard truth so many time before Stop singing these sad songs Just tell me 'bout the good times, baby 'Cause I don't want to hear them old heart breaking sad songs anymore...

I 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 sw...

It was my first night in that rooming house. In the last room down the hall I heard a hoarse voice and an old guitar Coming through the paper thin walls. A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme that did not mean a thing. But for the first of what was to be...

I came into town with a knapsack on my shoulder And a pocket full of stories that I just had to tell. You know I've knocked around a bit, I've had my share of small town glories, And it's time to hit the city and that crazy carousel. I been feeling sorry...

There was a time that you curled up In my lap like a child. You'd cling to me smilin' Your eyes wide and wild. Now you slip through my arms, Wave a passing hello. Twist away and toss a kiss Laughin' as you go. You used to say "Read me a story." And,...

It was raining hard in 'Frisco I needed one more fare to make my night A lady up ahead waved to flag me down She got in at the light "Oh where you going to, my lady blue It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain" She just looked out the window She...

She said, "I watch him walk down Main Street A sweet one man parade. He'd tip his hat and just like that another score he'd made I'd watch the girls all watch him; moths drawn to the flame. The money showed, the laughter flowed from the way he played the ga...

In the little town of Candor in the last year of my youth I learned the final lesson of the levels to the truth My father was a farmer he'd go tilling in the ground My mother was a neighbor she'd go visiting around. But I didn't care. For I had found the...

I got the news today That you refused to play Cause you never made number one But it's not just the words It's the deeds that are heard When all is said and done Kings take their crowns They melt them all down Trying to get the gold out You went to he...

The rock is gonna fall on us, he woke with a start And he ran to his mother, the fear dark in his heart And he told her of the vision that he was sure he'd seen She said: "Go back to sleep son, you're having a bad dream!" Silly child-- Everybody knows th...

They just told me take a pause here between the takes at the studio, And you came into my mind. It's kind of funny, for you were the cause of me being here on the radio And though that's another time, I'm still wanting you, I've been hunting for you....

I am born today, the sun burns its promise in my eyes; Mama strikes me and I draw a breath and cry. Above me a cloud softly tumbles through the sky; I am glad to be alive. It is my seventh day, I taste the hunger and I cry; my brother and sister cling to Mama...

There's a kid out on my corner -- hear him strumming like a fool Shivering in his dungarees -- but still he's going to school His cheeks are made of peach fuzz -- his hopes may be the same But he's signed up as a soldier out to play the music game The...

Holdin' on tight to my pillow Wish it had a life of its own, Starin' at the ceilin,' Such a funny feelin,' But nobody's home. But I know you're out there somewhere And that you feel the same way too, Now my only problem is trying to find A way of getti...

It was just another night and I was out on a limb looking for someone to help me back in. A couple of hours of cruising around brought me into a bar and I sat me down nothing much to be found. So I got in to talking to the old bar man he said: "You...

I used to play the trumpet once but now I play guitar Somebody told you it's more mellow. Well I've played a lot of music since but I really haven't grown that far Somebody said that you're just yellow. So I keep it up on the shelf And it's funny how you...

Mrs. Smith and Mr. Jones have come to pass the night They pulled off of the highway when they saw my light It's a vacancy I offer them, what they offer me Is fullness for a lifetime that's bare as can be There's a vacancy, won't you come to me And fill m...

Hello, honey, it's me What did you think when you heard me back on the radio? What did the kids say when they knew it was their long-lost daddy-o? Remember how we listened to the radio And I said, "That's the place to be"? And how I got the job as an FM...

We got married early And just a little bit late Baby came too early But some things just can't wait We were just beginning But it was very clear We grew up a little bit that year I caught on as a meter man You were caught at home When I started night...

The old lady on the park bench In the park with just one tree Was there from the very first day That you were part of me It seemed like she'd been sitting there Since 1000 B.C. And you said, "She is as permanent As anything can be." >From that firs...

It was the town that made America famous. The churches full and the kids all gone to hell. Six traffic lights and seven cops and all the streets kept clean. The supermarket and the drug store and the bars all doing well. They were the folks that made...

Why did the little girls grow crooked While the little boys grow tall The boys were taught to tumble The girls told not to fall The girls answered the telephone The boys answered the call That's why little girls grew crooked While the little boys grew t...

You were chasing him down Braodway on that white-hot July, 'Cause he thought he'd got a message from some holy man on high. He said his chance had finally come; he'd done it on his own, He had to leave his past behind; the first thing that had to go--was h...

When the summer fled past my window and autumn's chill was in the air there was a special kind of lonesome 'round that ending time of year. When the leaves fell and they drifted 'neath the trees that soon were bare I felt that wind blow, ever colder, a...

Dripping streetlights darkened buildings wandering head hung down low. Where will she go? Woman child, your eyes are wild. The rain runs down your hair. Woman child, mercy mild. What will you tell your teddy bear? I turned you on my solid body my e...

Now won't you listen to the word wizard, Watch him open up his gizzard, Every secret he has he's only told the world so far. Don't you think that boy would be embarrassed, Find himself hassled or some what harassed, Cause he shows of his wounds before th...

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 ho...

I listen to the wind girl As you sleep by my side The weather's getting colder So much harder now to hide I confess I'm worried girl 'Cause as we fill up our days For all the dreams we said we'd live We watch them slip away So I hold you like an...