Harry Chapin: Cat's in the Cradle Meaning
Song Released: 1974
Covered By: Ugly Kid Joe (1993)
Cat's in the Cradle Lyrics
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be...
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I completely disagree with the interpretation that there is neglect. I think the song is telling the story that the father HAS served as a good role model by working and providing for his family. He and his son both come to this realization in the end of the song, "As I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he'd grown up just like me, my boy was just like me". After all, the father thought he was doing the right thing all along by earning a living. The father is proud.
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I had always thought this song was about the circle concept that is repeatedly mentioned in the post, but on listening to it recently a saying of Albert Einstein's "to repeat and action and expect a different result being the definition of stupidity". Then maybe the song, which is always from the father point of view is more about the expectation of the son (and maybe family) always bending to his needs, never the other way. So even at the end of the song, when the son essentially lays out that is is overworked and dealing with sick children (the father's grandchildren)the father still doesn't make an effort to help out or to bend to the son's needs. The best time I ever spent with grandfather, father or son's was while we were doing something, building, fixing, moving, etc.
So the moral maybe is that rather then expect people in your life to make time to visit with you, make an effort to be useful/meaningful to them and the visiting will happen along the way. -
I agree completely with the June 20th response above. Most people interpret this song as a criticism of the dad for "neglecting" his little boy and that karma teaches the dad a lesson when he's older for being a "bad role model" to the son. Perhaps, but I never viewed the song's meaning in that light. Instead, I think the song is about the sad and ironic reality of life for a typical loving father and son. When the son is young and growing, unfortunately the dad can't spend much time with his son because the dad has to work (planes to catch and bills to pay -- the dad isn't neglecting the son). You can't condemn the father for working. It's just part of life. The dad is a young man trying to provide for his family, which requires him to be away from home when his son is young and growing. When the boy is ten years old, the dad gives the boy a present for his birthday, but again unfortunately, the dad still must work a lot -- he still has many responsibilities. Time moves on. Years later the boy is in college. Now the father has more available time. He doesn't have to work as much to support the family. The dad's responsibilities are winding down, providing more available time. However, at the same point, the boy is becoming an adult and his life is growing increasingly active. When the son comes home from college, the dad is proud and wants to spend time with his son, but the son is now a typical college kid for whom hanging out with his friends or going on a date is more important to him than chatting with dad. That's not a bad thing. Again, it's just part of life. Time goes by and the dad is retired. Now the dad has a lot of time, and he would like nothing more than to visit with his son, but in contrast, the son's time is consumed with his new job and family responsibilities -- the father and son have switched roles. But its clear that the son is glad to at least talk with his father for a moment. After the conversation, the dad ponders the irony -- how a father and son don't get to spend much time together. When the boy is young and has time, the dad has to work. Later in life, when the dad has time, the son has to work. I hear nothing in the song that places the father in a bad light. The father and son clearly care for each other, and the son does not harbor ill feelings of neglect by the dad ("But it's sure nice talking to you, dad. It's been sure nice talking to you." For me, the point is that a father and son (parent/child) don't get much time together because of age-specific responsibilities, so they should keep that in mind and take advantage of the precious time they do have together when its available.
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This song is about looking at a son's life through a father's eyes.
The father in the song does not neglect or not love his son -- he's in fact busy working to provide for him (and the family).
No where in the song does it say the father is 'Out with the Boys' or doesn't want to be with his son. He's busy working, trying to provide for his current & future needs.
The son never sounds angry toward his father in the song -- quite the contrary, he idolizes him, probably because he sees how hard he's working to provide, and repetedly says 'I want to be like you, Dad'.
When he becomes a man with the very same pressures & responsibilities, he is faced with the very same shortage of time his father faced. 'The new job's a hassle & the kids have the flu', and he chooses to not see his dad, but take care of his own kids.
This is how his father in the song prioritized HIS time --- doing what's right for his kids, and now the son makes the same choice.
I think in the end the father is proud of the son's decision & implied priorities. The son didn't say 'I'd love to see you and leave these sick, needy kids!!', but put his kids first and made the choice his father would have made in the same circumstances.
In this way, life comes full circle. I grew up with friends whose fathers worked multiple jobs, not to get away from their kids -- but to work and provide for them. They missed baseball games and dance recitals not because they didn't want to participate -- but because they had to work.
Same I believe holds true in this song.
In the end, Cat's Cradle is a song that only a parent can understand. It is about trade-offs and sacrifices, doing what one HAS to do versus what one would like to do.
Wonderful song -- I hope you enjoy this interpretation. -
this song is very touching and inspiring to fathers to never leave their kids and witness every event even their first steps, their first tooth loss, their first laugh, etc. the whole song describes a dad who wants nothing to do with a child. because he's married to his work. and then low and behold his kid turns out like him leaving his son alone all the time. that's why the fathers of today make sure their kids spend time with them and the dads never make mistakes so their sons turn out like they have.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The song is about a father letting life pass him by and not being their for his son and seeing his son as a grown man and also stuck in lifes rat race just as he was.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I would argue that it is about learnt behaviour and how important power is. In the song case we see a Dad working hard to provide for the family remember it is 1974 then as the child grows the behaviour is repeated as the exact behaviour displayed to the dad who requires the son in later years and we see the son rejects him as his dad rejected him as a child thinking that immediate family must come first. as quoted in the the lyrics the kids have the flu job is a hassle yet its been sure nice talking to you dad. Yet throughout the song these two have never talked.
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This is not about child neglect. It's about the way our society has changed over the years. In days of old, children learned their trade from their fathers. We didn't have mounds of bills because credit cards just got started in the late 60's. It now takes two, if not more incomes, to raise a family. If your working so much, to provide for that child, you will not find the time to spend with him. I don't think dad is happy that his son turned out just like him. He realizes that his son is now going through the same things he did, and the cycle has once again begun. Whose the man on the moon now? His son.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think the song means that the father never spent time with his son but the son wanted to follow in his footsteps so when the son grew up he had a life of his own just like his dad. This is what I think the song means to me
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Any way you look at it, the songs basically talks about things coming full circle, the dad probably never realised that his being busy and being away would have negative repercussions. He perhaps felt that it was his place as dad to provide for the family, ...hey the kid went away to college after all! The dad would have seen it as an achievement both as a "responsible" man and father.
Sadly, most if not all young boys idolise their dads, and herein lies the problem, it's true that nowhere in the song is it written or even implied that the boy grew up to be a better father than his own. His choice to stay at home with his flu-stricken kids could merely be a reflection of the same type of "responsible" act of a father. -
little boy is missing his dad's presence. He doesn't feel at home because of that.His heart is empty like his cradle.The cats occupied the cradle because it was left empty.
In the same way at the end the father is missing his son's presence and feels the same way. Here we can compare cradle with a home. Because the father misses his son's presence he has to share his time with cats at home.
Here I took cat as a cat to interpret as a wrong thing in a right place. -
"The cats in the cradle" A child's game..metaphor: BABY
"and the silver spoon": Wealth, provider...metaphor: DAD
"Little boy blue" Metaphor: sad boy
"man on the moon" Metaphor: distant dad
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