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Story of a Life
Story of a Life
by Harry Chapin
I can see myself it's a golden sunrise Young boy open up your eyes It's supposed to be your day. Now off you go horizon bound And you won't stop until you've found Your own kind of way. And the wind will whip your tousled hair, The sun, the rain, the sweet despair, Great tales of love and strife. And somewhere on your path to glory You will write your story of a life. And all the towns that you walk through And all the people that you talk to Sing you their songs. And there are times you change your stride, There are times you can't decide Still you go on. And then the young girls dance their gypsy tunes And share the secrets of the moon So soon you find a wife. And though she sees your dreams go poorly Still she joins your story of a life.
So you settle down and the children come And you find a place that you come from. Your wandering is done. And all your dreams of open spaces You find in your children's faces One by one. And all the trips you know you missed And all the lips you never kissed Cut through you like a knife. And now you see stretched out before thee Just another story of a life.
So what do you do now? When she looks at you now? You know those same old jokes all the jesters tell You tell them to her now. And all the same old songs all the minstrels sang You sing 'em to her now. But it don't matter anyhow 'Cause she knows by now.
So every chance you take don't mean a thing. What variations can you bring To this shopworn melody. And every year goes by like a tollin' bell. It's battered merchandise you sell. Not well, she can see. And though she's heard it all a thousand times Couched in your attempted rhymes She'll march to your drum and fife. But the question echoes up before me Where's the magic story of a life?
Now sometimes words can serve me well Sometimes words can go to hell For all that they do. And for every dream that took me high There's been a dream that's passed me by. I know it's so true And I can see it clear out to the end And I'll whisper to her now again Because she shared my life. For more than all the ghosts of glory She makes up the story, She's the only story Of my life.
Layout, design, images, and user-contributed text are © Copyright 1996-2017 HarryChapin.com: The Harry Chapin Archive.
"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?" -- Harry Chapin, 1942-1981.
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The Latest Release
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Sniper & Other Love Songs
[iTunes]
In 1972, Harry released
Sniper & Other Love Songs.
Thirty years would pass before the album would ever reach the CD format. Sniper was finally re-released in June, 2002.
Originally given a working title of Sweet City Suite, the album tells the story of various characters one might run into in
a city. The album features the original studio versions of Chapin classics "A Better Place to Be" and "Circle." But
perhaps more importantly (as those songs are already well-distributed on compilation CDs), the album features seemingly
lost Chapin stories, including "And the Baby Never Cries," "Burning Herself," "Barefoot Boy," and "Woman Child."
Sniper is for the seasoned Chapin fan. New fans would do better to check out
Greatest Stories
Live. But for Chapin fans who have reached the level of the
Dance Band on the Titanic album, this is the next step. Slightly over-produced and having a little of the "forced"
feel that some of Harry's studio albums possess, this album does not capture the powerfully live Harry Chapin. Nonetheless,
it captures Harry's great iconoclastic songwriting--Harry takes the story song to new heights here. But the album works best
for those ready for it; don't buy it until you are ready to appreciate it!
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