Cat's in the Cradle

"Cat's in the Cradle"
Side-A label of the U. S. vinyl single
Single by Harry Chapin
from the album Verities & Balderdash
B-side	"Vacancy"
Released	October 1, 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Folk rock, soft rock[1]
Length	3:44
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	Harry Chapin Sandra Chapin
Producer(s)	Paul Leka
Certification	Gold
Harry Chapin singles chronology
"Mr. Tanner" (1974) "Cat's in the Cradle" (1974) "I Wanna Learn a Love Song" (1974)

"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. As Chapin's only No. 1 hit song, it became the best known of his work and a staple for folk rock music. 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.^[2][3]

Background

The song's lyrics began as a poem written by Harry's wife, Sandra "Sandy" Gaston; the poem itself was inspired by the awkward relationship between her first husband, James Cashmore, and his father, John, a politician who served as Brooklyn Borough President. She was also inspired by a country music song she had heard on the radio.^[4] Harry also said the song was about his own relationship with his son, Josh, admitting, "Frankly, this song scares me to death."^[5]

Lyrical story

The song is told in the first-person by a father who is too busy with work to spend time with his son. Each time the son asks him to join in childhood activities, the father issues vague promises of spending time together in the future. While disappointed, the son accepts his excuses and yearns to "be like you, Dad." The first verse tells of his absence at his son's birth and walking, as "there were planes to catch and bills to pay"; the second verse relates the father buying the son a baseball as a birthday present but likewise declining to play catch.

The final two verses reverse the roles. In the third verse, the son returns home from college and his father finally has some time to spend with him. Instead, the son just wants to go out and asks the father for the car keys. The fourth verse advances the story quite some time, when the father is long retired and his son has started his own family some distance away. The father makes a phone call to his son and invites him for a visit, but the son has his own issues with his job and his children are sick with the flu. He tells his father he will visit him if he "can find the time" and says "it's been sure nice talking to you" before he says goodbye. The final two lines of the song reflect the father's observation of what has happened:

The song's chorus references several childhood things: The Cat's in the Cradle string game, silver spoons that are given to babies as christening gifts, and the nursery rhymes Little Boy Blue and Man in the Moon.

Chart performance

Ugly Kid Joe version

In 1992, the hard rock band Ugly Kid Joe included a cover of "Cat's in the Cradle" on their debut album America's Least Wanted. The cover was issued as a single in 1993 and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, the group's highest ever position on that chart.^[12] The song also peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The single sold 500,000 copies domestically, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.^[13][14]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Other uses

• Johnny Cash made his own version in his album Boom Chika Boom (1989).^[16]

• In 1993 a version of the song was used in an anti-paramilitary advert commissioned by the Northern Ireland Office titled “I Wanna Be Like You”.^[17][18]

• A version of this song was recorded as "Just Like Me" by DMC featuring Sarah McLachlan. This version used the same melody and almost the same chorus lyrics, but with entirely revised lyrics in the verses so as to make the song about DMC's adoption and feelings towards his birth mother. The recording appeared on DMC's 2006 album Checks Thugs and Rock n Roll as well as McLachlan's 2008 compiliation Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2.

• The song is also used in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V in the songlist for the game's Los Santos Rock Radio station. ^[19]

References

External links

• Lyrics at The Harry Chapin Archive
• Guitar Tabs and Chords at Fretbase