HARRY'S SONG (REMEMBERING HARRY CHAPIN)

I am writing an article for this blog on Harry Chapin, the exemplary singer/songwriter and much more, who died at 38 on 16 July 1981. Thirty-five years on, I still play his wonderful albums and never tire of his brilliance.

I never saw him in concert - whereas my brother Kevin did several times between 1977 & 1981 in the Ulster and Grosvenor Halls, Belfast.

Not long after his death, I wrote Harry's Song.

You will notice a reference to "electronic needle" in the chorus and that, children, is a reference to something called a stylus that we ancients used to drop onto LPs to create sound.....

Anyway, for better or worse, here are the lyrics to the song:



HARRY'S SONG (FOR HARRY CHAPIN)

You took me to some places
and not once did I say no
from the deck of a sinking ship
to some local radio
You took me higher than an eagle
and you never let me down
you taught me simple lessons
of a world a-spinning round

It's so sad that Harry's gone but I can bring him back
with an electronic needle on a hundred album tracks
It's so sad to lose a singer before the final song
now the angels buy his music
it's so sad that Harry's gone

You made my dreams a little sweeter
and my smile a little wide
You made me laugh a little louder
and cry deep down inside
You took me by the hand
and you told your stories well
when the wheel stopped turning
there was still much more to tell
 

It's so sad that Harry's gone but I can bring him back

with an electronic needle on a hundred album tracks

It's so sad to lose a singer before the final song

now the angels buy his music

it's so sad that Harry's gone

Hopefully, my article will run on 16 July.