Cats In The Cradle
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| “Cat's in the Cradle” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash | ||
| B-side | "Vacancy" | |
| Released | 1974 | |
| Genre | Folk rock | |
| Length | 4:02 | |
| Label | Elektra Records | |
| Writer(s) | Harry Chapin Sandra Chapin | |
| Producer | Paul Leka | |
| Certification | Gold | |
"Cat's in the Cradle" is a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1974 and was Chapin's only #1 hit song.
The lyrics to the verses of the song were originally written as a poem by Chapin's wife, Sandy Chapin, who is credited as the song's co-writer. The poem itself was inspired by the awkward relationship between Sandy Chapin's first husband, James Cashmore, and his father, a New York City politician. She was also inspired by a country song she heard on the radio. More than a year later, after the birth of his own son, Harry added the music and the chorus. Label executive David Geffen selected the song as a single, over Chapin's objections.
The song became the best known of Chapin's work and a staple for folk rock music. However, the song is widely mistakenly credited to artist Cat Stevens, in part due to a mistitled MP3 version of the song widely circulated on the internet. Jack Black contributed to this confusion, playing part of the song in a Saturday Night Live sketch where Black's character claimed the song was by Yusuf Islam, a.k.a. Cat Stevens. There are no known, verifiable recordings of Cat Stevens performing the song however, and a Cat Stevens fan web site assures readers that Stevens has never performed the song, "not live, not in the studio, and not even privately." Stevens did perform a song titled "Father and Son", but that was very different as the son was unsure of his future and the father is a more self-confident man assuring his son not to worry. Cat Stevens did, however, have a 1977 album released by London Records titled "Cat's Cradle" but the album did not contain a song of that name. Another misconception is that due to the tempo and lyrics, the song has an upbeat message; in the final verse it is made clear that the song does not have a happy ending. The chorus refers to these:
- Cat's cradle
- Silver spoon
- Little Boy Blue
- Man in the moon
Cats In The Cradle
Cat's in the Cradle" is a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1974.
Cat's in the Cradle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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WELCOME TO CAT'S CRADLE!
Cats In The Cradle Lyrics by Harry Chapin at the Lyrics Depot ... Lyrics Depot is your source of lyrics to Cats In The Cradle by Harry Chapin.
Cats In The Cradle Lyrics by Harry Chapin
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