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"Cat's in the Cradle," is a Folk Rock song by American Singer / Songwriter Harry Chapin . It appeared on Chapin's 1974 album '' Verities & Balderdash ''. It was written by Harry's wife Sandy , a Poet and writer, long before the birth of their son Joshua. When Sandy showed it to Harry, he had only casual interest. After Joshua's birth, Harry realized just how much the song meant to him and, after reworking the song, eventually recorded it. The song became the best known of Harry's work and a staple for Folk Rock music. THE STORY The song is told in first person, and relates the story of a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son repeatedly asks him to join in childhood activities, the father always responds with little more than vague promises of future quality time. Meanwhile, the son grows up loving and admiring his father but decides to be 'like him' in that he will get on with his own life. This is seen in the 3rd verse where the father asks the son to sit for awhile but the son asks for the car keys instead. The son is now starting to become like his father in the sense that he won't have much time to spend with his father. This final realization dawns on the father in the final verse. Years pass and the lonely, aging father finally desires to spend time with his child. Hoping to make up for lost time, he reaches out to him. The son however has grown up and begun his own life; he warmly responds that he is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with (or even talk to) his father. Like his father once had, the son promises that someday in the future they will spend time together. The last verses end with the lines ''"I'd love to dad if I could find the time/You see my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu/But it's sure nice talking to you, dad … And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me/He'd grown up just like me/My boy was just like me …"''. This indicates that, as the father sadly realizes, the son has taken after the father in that he has become too occupied with his own family to spend time with his father, who now has the time for him. COVERS AND USE IN POPULAR CULTURE
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