Talk:Harry Chapin

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• Thanksgiving. Remember junior high school, high school, elementary school, everybody bringing in cans for the hungry people? Remember that? Just imagine, if somebody, when you were in fifth, sixth grade, if the principle had the gonads to say on Monday: 'Children, it was the most single, wonderful outpouring of generosity that this school has ever seen. More cans of food feeding a hundred and ninety-three families came to this school than ever before. We only have one problem and we’re gonna deal with it this coming week. We’re gonna cancel our regular classes and what we’re gonna talk about is: what are those people gonna eat next week?’ Now doesn’t that sound like a sensible educational system that dealt with those kind of questions?
  • On Thanksgiving hunger drives

• My grandfather was a painter. He died at age eighty-eight, he illustrated Robert Frost’s first two books of poetry, and he was looking at me and he said, “Harry, there’s two kinds of tired. There’s good tired and there’s bad tired.” He said, “Ironically enough, bad tired can be a day that you won. But you won other people’s battles, you lived other people’s days, other people’s agendas, other people’s dreams. And when it’s all over, there was very little you in there. And when you hit the hay at night, somehow you toss and turn; you don’t settle easy. It’s that good tired, ironically enough, can be a day that you lost, but you don’t even have to tell yourself because you knew you fought your battles, you chased your dreams, you lived your days and when you hit the hay at night, you settle easy, you sleep the sleep of the just and you say ‘take me away’”. He said, “Harry, all my life I wanted to be a painter and I painted; God, I would have loved to have been more successful, but I painted and I painted and I’m good tired and they can take me away.” Now, there is a process, in your and my lives, in the insecurity that we have about a prior-life or an afterlife, God- I hope there is a God. If He is- If He does exist, He’s got a rather weird sense of humor however. But let’s just- But if there’s a process that will allow us to live our days, that will allow us that will allow us that degree of equanimity towards the end looking at the black, implacable wall of death, to allow us that degree of peace, that degree of non-fear, I want in.
  • about his grandfather

• Here’s a song that I could probably talk about for two weeks.
  • On "Sniper"

• Frankly, this song scares me to death.
  • On "Cat's In The Cradle" relating to his relationship with his son, Josh.

I have a little trouble getting my songs are the radio cause they’re too long, but this one snuck onto the charts for about fifteen minutes.

• • On "W*O*L*D"

About Harry Chapin

• "Harry, it sucks." ~ Steve Chapin on hearing Harry's alternate ending to 30,000 Pounds of Bananas.

• "I believe that my brother was a great man. But, unlike most other great men, his greatness did not come from diminishing those around him. He made himself great, in part, by finding the best in those around him." ~ James Chapin

• "There's been a lot of talk about 'How can we fill Harry's shoes?' The answer to that is that the challenge of Harry's life was NOT one of 'following in his footsteps' or 'filling his shoes.' The challenge is in filling our OWN shoes: We carry on Harry's work not just because we loved and admired him. We do so because it is the proper work of us all." ~ James Chapin