Musical musings

Some of the things I have learned in my middle years … I have learned from re-listening and appreciating musos who were the sound track of my earlier years.

Some of them really were not just poets, many of them are a genuine inspiration.

New York-born Harry Chapin wrote and sang haunting melodies that chipped away at materialism, social climbing and isolation.

His best-known song ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ was a plea to late 20th-century fathers to start relating to their kids before it was too late.

In the mid-1970s, Chapin focused on his social activism, including raising money to combat hunger in the United States. His daughter Jen said: “He saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America”

Wikipedia notes that Chapin’s social causes at times caused friction among his band members and managers.

Chapin donated an estimated third of his paid concerts to charitable causes, often performing alone with his guitar to reduce costs.

Harry died in a freeway crash in July 1981. He had virtually nothing in his bank account.

His widow, perhaps with mixed feelings said, “Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations and 82 charities.

Harry wasn’t interested in saving money. He always said, ‘Money is for people,’ so he gave it away.”

Despite his success as a musician, he left little money and it was difficult to maintain the causes for which he raised more than $3 million in the last six years of his life.

Chapin’s tombstone contains lines from his song “I Wonder What Would Happen to this World.”

Oh, if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man’s life could be worth
I wonder what would happen
to this world