Hey all, reality check!  I'm a big HC fan, and "A Better Place to Be" is
close to my heart.  You see, I'm from Watertown, NY, and this is where I
first saw (and actually met) Harry Chapin.  My husband and I have tried
for years to put places to that song, and maybe we have come close, but
we'll never really know.  As far as the concept behind this story, it's
like most other Chapin stories.  The meaning lies in YOUR heart.  Mine
says the chick was what some refer to as a slut, but I refer to as a lost
child, looking for respite from her dreary, everyday life.  The "little"
man was a lonley man, looking for the same retreat.  Don't you get bored
with life?  Even with a family, significant other, life-mate, or whatever?
 He found it with the beautiful girl that "left him tongued-tied like a
school boy",( a feeling I've known enough times)  which allowed him to
realize that he didn't have to be alone, he only had to reach out to
someone,. anyone, else to find a "better place to be". 

I'm new here, but I'm going to try another post along these lines.  I hope
I do it right.

-T.