But "Cat's in the Cradle" is a weird one for me. As much as I enjoy listening to it, it also annoys me in a way others of its kind don't. I'm not sure why. Harry Chapin's 1981 death was untimely, and I don't really know anything else about him or his music, don't know any other songs of his (meaning: have no memories from childhood), so maybe that unfamiliarity ignites some kind of unconscious aversion. The song is repetitive, doesn't really go anywhere musically, and yet, the story it tells is ultimately so profound, so relevant to most people's existence (to some extent), that it's okay. I listen anyway. Feel compelled to listen.
I can't honestly say I relate to it. I was lucky. I had an attentive father, and in turn, like to think I was attentive to my sons as they grew up. And yet, Life still feels this way sometimes, as I age. There just isn't enough time for anything, and before you know it, your opportunities vanish, and even before they do, you're stuck having to prioritize them, because there are always "planes to catch, and bills to pay..."
"And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he'd grown up just like me / My boy was just like me..."
#334) "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas - With a mad laboratory assemblage of musical hooks and harmonies pieced together in a sloppily genius discipline of weird science, "Carry on Wayward Son" takes really sharp corners on two wheels, all the while offering heady lyrics worthy of 1970s airwaves (worthy of the band that also gave us "Dust in the Wind").
But also, this song is - for my money - among the first arena rock anthems, and I never really thought of it that way. Watching the live video, which I only did in recent months, reveals that Kansas was, in terms of visuals, of general vibe, closer to a "hair band" (as opposed to a prog rock band) in 1976 than I ever would have imagined listening to this song and putting my own spin on it all these years.
And I'm not complaining. :-) There's nothing, musically or visually, I don't love about this, to be honest. At the end of the day, it's kind of exactly the way I always pictured it, without realizing what it was I was seeing.
But also, this song is - for my money - among the first arena rock anthems, and I never really thought of it that way. Watching the live video, which I only did in recent months, reveals that Kansas was, in terms of visuals, of general vibe, closer to a "hair band" (as opposed to a prog rock band) in 1976 than I ever would have imagined listening to this song and putting my own spin on it all these years.
And I'm not complaining. :-) There's nothing, musically or visually, I don't love about this, to be honest. At the end of the day, it's kind of exactly the way I always pictured it, without realizing what it was I was seeing.
"And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know...."
