Harry was in the same mold as Jim Croce, and Gordon Lightfoot, and a few others. They were such great "storytellers." All three of them are gone, but thankfully, their music is still here for us to enjoy. Thanks
Although the song is fictional, Harry did have some experience behind the wheel as a cabbie in NYC. He said he had an ex-girlfriend who lived in a nearby suburb, so one day he let his mind wander into imagining what it would be like if by chance he picked her up in his cab. Love how that little seed of a thought grew into this beautiful masterpiece. It literally puts you in the driver’s seat.
Harry was so much more than an entertainer he was a humanitarian he would do 150 benefit concerts a year to end world hunger and he started the movement that 4 years after he died became live aid
So many people can relate to this song, not literally, but how life twists and turns(my ex is named Sue and yes we learned about love in the back of a Dodge)
It is amazing how many people have heard this song and how many different opinions everyone has about the meaning. Shows how creative of a songwriter he is, even after all these decades.
You’re right that she’s acting happy. She settled for safety and security in her handsome home. He actually isn’t happy driving a cab and getting high. He gave up on his dreams when he let her go, and he sustained the ultimate insult when she pitied him by giving him $20 for a $2.50 fare. Stuffing the bill in his shirt is the perfect image of what he had been reduced to. Getting high is his escape from the devastating loss of that woman and his dreams.
We had so many fantastic singer songwriters . Chapin was one of the best, but we had so many!!! Back at that time women were pushed hard to marry well. she settled for the loveless marriage. He flies “Stoned” on his cab . Life is what happens when your making other plans ☮️
John Wallace on bass sings the falsetto and reproduced it in concert. I was fortunate to see Harry and band 5 times. He was such a great performer where he brought many of his best songs to a new level. You get a taste of it on Greatest Stories Live. Also, for fun, you may want to try Six String Orchestra. It still makes laugh after nearly 50 years.
Harry was a master storyteller. So many amazing classics. If I may suggest a another lyrical masterpiece by another of my favorite artists, Mr. Jackson Browne with “Late For The Sky”. You will definitely experience the emotion of the song. ✌🏼😎🇺🇸
Harry is just one more of the many fantastic singer/songwriters that we loved in the 60s and 70s. I'd recommend going with the song W.O.L.D. as one of your next Chapin choices. It's another of Harry's bittersweet masterpieces, about a (successful?) radio disc jockey and his family issues. Excellent song choice, and interesting reaction.
For your next Harry Chapin experience, I highly recommend "Mr. Tanner", his 1975 live recording is the best. You won't regret it. More than your garden variety singer-songwriter, Harry was a musical storyteller.
To fully appreciate Harry, you need to listen to, and even better yet, watch video of, him performing live in concert. He was, above all, a storyteller, and his interaction with a live audience brought out the best of him.
Legendary tune from this great songwriter singer.My dad too drove a his car in a private limousine company in NYCHarry’s sequel years later had a bit of a happier ending because in this one he was left with the blues! I remember the original version played on the radio in New York City. Maybe elsewhere they edited it though not on FM stations in New York!
I get teary when I hear this song. I saw Harry Chapin in concert in Central Park in 1978. Central Park had music summer festivals at the Wollman skating ring. If you sat outside on the grass, it was free. If you sat on a seat within the ring, it was $5. If you wanted a seat up front, it was $10. I paid the $10 for Harry, and was in the front row. Harry was sweet, friendly, and funny. Back then were the days of graffiti in our subway system. When Harry finished singing Taxi, he said something like "I knew I'd made it in New York when I went down into the subway and on the wall was written 'Harry keep the change.'" Harry went on to sing a few funny obscene songs that made us all gag with laughter. Aaah, beautiful memories of that day.
It really sounds like these artist / musicians who sit up there with just them, their instrument and their songs are some of the best live musicians you'll ever see. I always hear stories about how they share so much about themselves and the songs they wrote and it just sounds awesome. Like sitting around a campfire with some friends while one plays music that you can all sing along to.
@ShawnSalvadori with early U2, Bono used to jump down into the crowd, grab a girl, and go back onstage with her and dance along with her. Michael Stipe from R.E.M. used to talk to us like we were all old friends catching up with each other. Elton John always connected with us, and when he struggled with his voice for awhile due to nodules on his lungs, we sang the hard notes for him. I've had singers smile down at me while I sang along and danced. I've had a great time!!
I love this man, he is such a great poet and his songs are all stories. I got to see him live once in Los Angeles and what a great night that was. By the end of his show, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. He had an uncanny way of finding a path to everybody's soft spot and rekindling old memories that tugged at the heartstrings. Harry is another one who left us too soon. My very favorite song by him is a deep cut and not known to many, though it appeared on one of his albums. It is called Shooting Star, you should give it a listen on your own time or as a reaction if you so choose. I loved watching your face as the story of this song unfolded, there were sparks of "I know that feeling" in your eyes and also a glimmer of hope that they might find a way back to each other. In the end, he makes it clear that they are completely different people and being together would be too drastic of a change from what they had become and from their comfort zones. If you go back and listen again, you will realize that she made it to the big time, he takes her up her driveway to her door 'Past the gates and the fine trimmed lawns." "..and here she's acting happy inside her handsome home..." She also gives him a big tip and tells him to keep the change as she does really think he is down and out, a lowly cabbie. Strangely, he seems to love his job and certainly doesn't see himself as a failure but he does wear a cabbie's coat but inside, he is still dreaming the dream. Thanks for reacting to this wonderful artist.
Love this song, my impression is she’s not happy and maybe hasn’t become an actress, she’s miserable but you’re right that Harry is happy flying in his taxi getting stoned
Not sure I saw the optimism in this that you are seeing. She is rich and acting happy in a loveless marriage and he seems to have given up on his dreams and is numbing himself to deal with his life of “too many miles and too little smiles.”
Not happy, not sad. Bittersweet. Remembering the high points, wondering what might have been if things had taken a different route. Something that I think we have all done.
There are a lot of great storytellers like Dylan, Prine, Towns, Van, Neil, etc. But nobody brings out the emotion like Harry. The sequel to this song is called Sequel. Check it out.
Certainly, "The Sequel" would be an obvious follow up to "Taxi." My favorite is "Mr. Tanner." Big John Wallace assists on this beautiful, poignant song. Based on a true story.
Had Harry lived, he would have won the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes for his writing gifts, as he was already one of the very best when he tragically died...on the road. Tractor-trailer hit him from behind. Other gems are: ""Sniper", "Sunday Morning Sunshine" and"30,000 pounds of bananas"...for starters. Write stories and songs! You are getting an amazing education on this show, as are we.
He died way too young. Such a tragedy. I remember hearing it on the radio. I was so surprised and saddened. The inscription on his tombstone reads 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
Seems to me, the "getting high" line might actually be ending on a sour note (if he's strung out). But it is a subjective "listen". I agree with you, though. Chapin's always been top notch for me because of his story-telling.
You need to do the live version of the song, there is a live version where he does Taxi and goes into Taxi THE Sequel behind it. Taxi The Sequel is good and adds to the story.
"And there's she's acting happy, all in her handsome home", she has settled for a marriage to a well off man, not one that she loved, and is acting happy rather than pursuing her dream.
Hey brother, It's so great to see how passionate you get over these tunes. lol I love to see it, great stuff, bro. I love the folk-rock genre as well, so many songs with great messages and plenty to ponder over about life's twists and turns. Here's another song by Harry Chapin, if interested. *"Harry Chapin - Mr. Tanner" (by the channel: bagnon)* this particular video that I've recommended has an interesting backstory that's explained prior to the performance. I really enjoyed chilling with you, this one brought back some wonderful memories of my mother and me, she loved H. Chapin too. Thanks for sharing brother.
It's a shame this song doesn't get the love it deserves. GOD took way too early😥😇 You can tell this was from a long time ago. You can't even get into the cab for $2.50 Especially in SF. 4/20 just for us. The "radio version" did NOT change the end where I lived.
She married for wealth, and is unhappy in her marriage, even though she lives on posh Park Side Lane. He is rather bitter over being a cab driver, rather than the pilot of his dreams. It's a sad song.
Sorry, but I get a different vibe... it seems to me that both of them, for whatever reason, fell short of their dreams! "We'd both gotten what we asked for..." is, I think, meant ironically. 'She was going to be an actress', Like many young women, she never made it, but being (we assume) young & attractive, drew the attention of a (perhaps) older & well-to-do man, so at last she 'settles' & becomes his wife- "She's acting happy inside her handsome home"... for him, 'flying in my taxi' is also meant ironically- he lost his way, his dream, whatever, & became a taxi driver- certainly a worthwhile job, but still a far cry from his original dream. Now his drug use is to take the edge off the pain of his failure, although he pretends to be 'flying' when he's high- a sad substitute! (Anyway, that's MY take- others will vary!)
He’s not happy. He’s got a wild man wizard hiding inside. Twenty dollars back then was a lot of money. It was more like 100 or 150 in today’s money. She gave him a tip seven times the fare. She’s taking pity on him.
Harry was in the same mold as Jim Croce, and Gordon Lightfoot, and a few others. They were such great "storytellers." All three of them are gone, but thankfully, their music is still here for us to enjoy.
Thanks
Another Harry Chapin story song is "W.O.L.D.". It's about an AM radio DJ who drifts from station to station, town to town.
Although the song is fictional, Harry did have some experience behind the wheel as a cabbie in NYC. He said he had an ex-girlfriend who lived in a nearby suburb, so one day he let his mind wander into imagining what it would be like if by chance he picked her up in his cab. Love how that little seed of a thought grew into this beautiful masterpiece. It literally puts you in the driver’s seat.
Harry was so much more than an entertainer he was a humanitarian he would do 150 benefit concerts a year to end world hunger and he started the movement that 4 years after he died became live aid
I don't know why, but this song always hits my feels.
She married rich, but isn’t really happy. But, she acts as if she is. So she reached her goal too, wanting to be an actress.
So many people can relate to this song, not literally, but how life twists and turns(my ex is named Sue and yes we learned about love in the back of a Dodge)
Wow! This song must hit home to your dad, in one way or another. Glad you played this! Love Chapin!✌️
Her address "Parkside Lane" implies a life of luxury. She has to act happy in a life that looks like a life of riches.
Harry Chapin's "Mr. Tanner" and "A Better Place to Be" get me emotional every time.
It is amazing how many people have heard this song and how many different opinions everyone has about the meaning. Shows how creative of a songwriter he is, even after all these decades.
You’re right that she’s acting happy. She settled for safety and security in her handsome home. He actually isn’t happy driving a cab and getting high. He gave up on his dreams when he let her go, and he sustained the ultimate insult when she pitied him by giving him $20 for a $2.50 fare. Stuffing the bill in his shirt is the perfect image of what he had been reduced to. Getting high is his escape from the devastating loss of that woman and his dreams.
There is a Reprise he wrote because of all the interpretation of this song. So he answered the questions
Classic Chapin. We make the most of what we got. That's really all we can do. And if we're lucky, we're satisfied with that.
Yessir! I've seen people who have little be more happy than those with many. If we can all capture that kind of peace, well that's the real dream
@@ShawnSalvadori Indeed.
We had so many fantastic singer songwriters . Chapin was one of the best, but we had so many!!! Back at that time women were pushed hard to marry well. she settled for the loveless marriage. He flies “Stoned” on his cab . Life is what happens when your making other plans ☮️
John Wallace on bass sings the falsetto and reproduced it in concert. I was fortunate to see Harry and band 5 times. He was such a great performer where he brought many of his best songs to a new level. You get a taste of it on Greatest Stories Live. Also, for fun, you may want to try Six String Orchestra. It still makes laugh after nearly 50 years.
" Big" John Wallace had insane range vocally. He not only did the falsetto on " Taxi". He sang baritone on " Mr. Tanner" and "30k Pounds of Bananas ".
Harry was a master storyteller. So many amazing classics.
If I may suggest a another lyrical masterpiece by another of my favorite artists, Mr. Jackson Browne with “Late For The Sky”.
You will definitely experience the emotion of the song. ✌🏼😎🇺🇸
There's not many songwriters who could come up with this kind of song. Maybe Rupert Holmes on a good day. Or Nilsson. But this guy is really unique.
Harry wrote a sequel to this song. Equally as great, check it out. I think it's called "The Sequel."
Oh ya, great reviews really dig your channel.
Harry was the best storyteller I've ever heard. Next you have to do The Sequel which takes story further.
Harry is just one more of the many fantastic singer/songwriters that we loved in the 60s and 70s. I'd recommend going with the song W.O.L.D. as one of your next Chapin choices. It's another of Harry's bittersweet masterpieces, about a (successful?) radio disc jockey and his family issues. Excellent song choice, and interesting reaction.
For your next Harry Chapin experience, I highly recommend "Mr. Tanner", his 1975 live recording is the best. You won't regret it. More than your garden variety singer-songwriter, Harry was a musical storyteller.
To fully appreciate Harry, you need to listen to, and even better yet, watch video of, him performing live in concert. He was, above all, a storyteller, and his interaction with a live audience brought out the best of him.
This one just popped up cannot wait to watch one of the best songs of all time love you
Legendary tune from this great songwriter singer.My dad too drove a his car in a private limousine company in NYCHarry’s sequel years later had a bit of a happier ending because in this one he was left with the blues! I remember the original version played on the radio in New York City. Maybe elsewhere they edited it though not on FM stations in New York!
I get teary when I hear this song. I saw Harry Chapin in concert in Central Park in 1978. Central Park had music summer festivals at the Wollman skating ring. If you sat outside on the grass, it was free. If you sat on a seat within the ring, it was $5. If you wanted a seat up front, it was $10. I paid the $10 for Harry, and was in the front row. Harry was sweet, friendly, and funny. Back then were the days of graffiti in our subway system. When Harry finished singing Taxi, he said something like "I knew I'd made it in New York when I went down into the subway and on the wall was written 'Harry keep the change.'" Harry went on to sing a few funny obscene songs that made us all gag with laughter. Aaah, beautiful memories of that day.
It really sounds like these artist / musicians who sit up there with just them, their instrument and their songs are some of the best live musicians you'll ever see. I always hear stories about how they share so much about themselves and the songs they wrote and it just sounds awesome. Like sitting around a campfire with some friends while one plays music that you can all sing along to.
@ShawnSalvadori with early U2, Bono used to jump down into the crowd, grab a girl, and go back onstage with her and dance along with her. Michael Stipe from R.E.M. used to talk to us like we were all old friends catching up with each other. Elton John always connected with us, and when he struggled with his voice for awhile due to nodules on his lungs, we sang the hard notes for him. I've had singers smile down at me while I sang along and danced. I've had a great time!!
I love this man, he is such a great poet and his songs are all stories. I got to see him live once in Los Angeles and what a great night that was. By the end of his show, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. He had an uncanny way of finding a path to everybody's soft spot and rekindling old memories that tugged at the heartstrings. Harry is another one who left us too soon. My very favorite song by him is a deep cut and not known to many, though it appeared on one of his albums. It is called Shooting Star, you should give it a listen on your own time or as a reaction if you so choose. I loved watching your face as the story of this song unfolded, there were sparks of "I know that feeling" in your eyes and also a glimmer of hope that they might find a way back to each other. In the end, he makes it clear that they are completely different people and being together would be too drastic of a change from what they had become and from their comfort zones. If you go back and listen again, you will realize that she made it to the big time, he takes her up her driveway to her door 'Past the gates and the fine trimmed lawns." "..and here she's acting happy inside her handsome home..." She also gives him a big tip and tells him to keep the change as she does really think he is down and out, a lowly cabbie. Strangely, he seems to love his job and certainly doesn't see himself as a failure but he does wear a cabbie's coat but inside, he is still dreaming the dream. Thanks for reacting to this wonderful artist.
Harry`s brother Tom had a children's show telling stories with his guitar. Make a Wish
Love this song, my impression is she’s not happy and maybe hasn’t become an actress, she’s miserable but you’re right that Harry is happy flying in his taxi getting stoned
Not sure I saw the optimism in this that you are seeing. She is rich and acting happy in a loveless marriage and he seems to have given up on his dreams and is numbing himself to deal with his life of “too many miles and too little smiles.”
Ah, yeah I don't share that view. I think he's in a much better spot than she with a peace of mind that money can't buy
Not happy, not sad. Bittersweet. Remembering the high points, wondering what might have been if things had taken a different route. Something that I think we have all done.
One of the greatest songs ever written. Period.
There are a lot of great storytellers like Dylan, Prine, Towns, Van, Neil, etc. But nobody brings out the emotion like Harry. The sequel to this song is called Sequel. Check it out.
Certainly, "The Sequel" would be an obvious follow up to "Taxi."
My favorite is "Mr. Tanner." Big John Wallace assists on this beautiful, poignant song. Based on a true story.
"Mr. Tanner" is a poignant gem.
It’s an ode to just how “big league” teenage dreams, simply turn into a normal life. Be prepared to be “a normal human” folks!
From a 66 yr old.
Peace
Had Harry lived, he would have won the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes for his writing gifts, as he was already one of the very best when he tragically died...on the road. Tractor-trailer hit him from behind. Other gems are: ""Sniper", "Sunday Morning Sunshine" and"30,000 pounds of bananas"...for starters. Write stories and songs! You are getting an amazing education on this show, as are we.
He died way too young. Such a tragedy. I remember hearing it on the radio. I was so surprised and saddened.
The inscription on his tombstone reads
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
Seems to me, the "getting high" line might actually be ending on a sour note (if he's strung out). But it is a subjective "listen". I agree with you, though. Chapin's always been top notch for me because of his story-telling.
Harry over the years did a sequel to this, advancing the story. Very much required listening if you enjoyed this.
A few years later he did a sequel to this song titled "Sequel". Not quite as inspired as this original, but still very good.
Harry Chapin الاروع في الموسيقى والقصة واللحن
You need to do the live version of the song, there is a live version where he does Taxi and goes into Taxi THE Sequel behind it. Taxi The Sequel is good and adds to the story.
Keep chasing your dreams!
Thanksgiving was his big charity time in NYC.
"And there's she's acting happy, all in her handsome home", she has settled for a marriage to a well off man, not one that she loved, and is acting happy rather than pursuing her dream.
I always thought this was a sad song. The sequel finds them both in a better place in life.
❤❤❤ Love his story telling. Try "Corey's Coming" (the 8 min 15 sec version) it is sad, but wonderful. So is "W.O.L.D." and "A Better Place To Be".
GREAT SONG GIB! 😊 HIS BIGGEST HIT BY FAR WAS ( CATS IN THE CRADLE )😊
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I haven’t watched this video, but I gave it a Like because I love this song.
Your next Harry Chapin song must be 'Mr. Tanner' He 'was a cleaner from the midwest'
Went to Eisenhower park in east meadow ny to see him give a free concert back in 1981. Sadly he never made it there 😞
Hey brother, It's so great to see how passionate you get over these tunes. lol I love to see it, great stuff, bro. I love the folk-rock genre as well, so many songs with great messages and plenty to ponder over about life's twists and turns. Here's another song by Harry Chapin, if interested. *"Harry Chapin - Mr. Tanner" (by the channel: bagnon)* this particular video that I've recommended has an interesting backstory that's explained prior to the performance. I really enjoyed chilling with you, this one brought back some wonderful memories of my mother and me, she loved H. Chapin too. Thanks for sharing brother.
Some from Harry Chapin to react to:
Mr. Tanner
The Rock
Sniper
I also recommend W.O.L.D
"Mr. Tanner" is a definite.
One of the saddest songs written is Harry Chapin's The Shortest Song.
Check out Chapin's Taxi the sequel. It's part 2 of the story.
But they do meet up again. You have to listen to the Sequel now.
NEVERRRRR STOP DREAMING MY FRIEND! 😊
HERE'S ANOTHER GREAT FOLK SONG GIB : ( DAN FOGELBERG ) LEADER OF THE BAND 😊 R.I.P. ☹TO DAN
It's a shame this song doesn't get the love it deserves.
GOD took way too early😥😇
You can tell this was from a long time ago. You can't even get into the cab for $2.50
Especially in SF.
4/20 just for us.
The "radio version" did NOT change the end where I lived.
Yeah, I always heard it as “stoned”.
Never get this type of a song again and it's a damn shame.
Now you must listen to part two in a song called Sequel
She married for wealth, and is unhappy in her marriage, even though she lives on posh Park Side Lane. He is rather bitter over being a cab driver, rather than the pilot of his dreams. It's a sad song.
As a former cab driver I never had a $2.50 fare
Sorry, but I get a different vibe... it seems to me that both of them, for whatever reason, fell short of their dreams! "We'd both gotten what we asked for..." is, I think, meant ironically. 'She was going to be an actress', Like many young women, she never made it, but being (we assume) young & attractive, drew the attention of a (perhaps) older & well-to-do man, so at last she 'settles' & becomes his wife- "She's acting happy inside her handsome home"... for him, 'flying in my taxi' is also meant ironically- he lost his way, his dream, whatever, & became a taxi driver- certainly a worthwhile job, but still a far cry from his original dream. Now his drug use is to take the edge off the pain of his failure, although he pretends to be 'flying' when he's high- a sad substitute! (Anyway, that's MY take- others will vary!)
Critical Reacts: Instead of becoming a successful actress, "Sue" has instead married into being an "affluent suburban trophy wife."
Time fir SEQUEL
I think he does care. He wanted to be a pilot but the only way he gets to fly high is by getting stoned. That's pretty sad.
He’s not happy. He’s got a wild man wizard hiding inside.
Twenty dollars back then was a lot of money. It was more like 100 or 150 in today’s money. She gave him a tip seven times the fare. She’s taking pity on him.
The Live version is better!
Great storyteller gone too soon