Cat's in the Cradle
Encyclopedia
"Cat's in the Cradle" is a 1974 folk rock
song by Harry Chapin
from the album Verities & Balderdash
. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100
in December 1974. As Chapin's only #1 hit song, it became the best known of his work and a staple for folk rock music.
," "silver spoon
," "Little Boy Blue
," "Man in the Moon
").
"Not a Father's Day
" sung by Neil Patrick Harris
, in the first season of 'Til Death
sung by Brad Garrett, and also appears in the Season 6 episode of The Office
"St. Patrick's Day" sung by Rainn Wilson
and Ed Helms
. The song was heard at the end of the King of the Hill
episode "What Happens at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis Stays at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis." It was also featured in the first-season episode of Family Guy
, "The Son Also Draws," sung by the talking trees that Peter and Chris encounter on their vision quest in the forest. A segment of the song is played in Season 1 episode 5 of Happy Endings. A reference to the song was also expressed by Van and his relationship with his father in the TV show Reba.
A cover of this song was sung by the hard rock
group Ugly Kid Joe
on their album America's Least Wanted
. It sold over 500,000 copies in Australia.
The song also appears briefly on an episode of the American comedy-drama series Scrubs
in the fourth season episode "My Unicorn
", sung by John Bennett Perry
. The song also appears twice in The Simpsons
, in the Season 3 episode "Saturdays of Thunder
", and in the Season 6 episode "Bart's Girlfriend
". The song also appears in Shrek the Third
, sung by Donkey after Shrek finds out Fiona is pregnant to make him (Shrek) feel better, but it does not work. It was also used in the British government's public information film
asking people to report suspected terrorist activity. It was only broadcast in the Ulster Television region.
It is common to believe that Cat Stevens
recorded this song. This is most likely due to that his song Father and Son is similar in its theme.
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
song by Harry Chapin
Harry Chapin
Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter best known in particular for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key player in the creation of the...
from the album Verities & Balderdash
Verities & Balderdash
Verities & Balderdash is the fourth studio album by the American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, released in 1974. . "Cat's in the Cradle" was Chapin's highest charting single, finishing at #44 for the year on the 1974 Billboard year-end Hot 100 chart. The follow-up single, "I Wanna Learn a Love...
. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in December 1974. As Chapin's only #1 hit song, it became the best known of his work and a staple for folk rock music.
Background
The poem itself was inspired by the awkward relationship between Sandy Chapin's first husband, James Cashmore, and his father, a New York City politician. He was also inspired by a country music song he had heard on the radio. Harry has also said that the song was about his father-son relationship with his son, Josh, saying that "Frankly, this song scares me to death."Lyrical story
The song is told in first-person by a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son asks him to join in childhood activities, the father always responds with little more than vague promises of spending time together in the future. While wishing to spend time with his father, the son continues to admire him, wishing to be "just like him." The final two verses are a reverse of the roles, where the father asks his grown-up son to visit, but the son responds that he is now too busy to find the time for his father. The father then reflects that they are both alike, saying "my boy was just like me." The song's chorus uses imagery related to childhood ("Cat's in the cradleCat's cradle
Cat's cradle is a well known series of string figures created between two people as a game. The name of the entire game, the specific figures, their order, and the names of the figures vary. Versions of this game have been found in indigenous cultures all over the world—from the Arctic to the...
," "silver spoon
Silver spoon
The English language expression silver spoon is synonymous with wealth, especially inherited wealth; someone born into a wealthy family is said to have "been born with a silver spoon in his mouth". As an adjective, "silver-spoon" describes someone who has a prosperous background or is of a...
," "Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue
"Little Boy Blue" is a popular English language nursery rhyme, often used in popular culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 11318.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:...
," "Man in the Moon
Man in the Moon
The Man in the Moon is an imaginary figure resembling a human face, head or body, that observers from some cultural backgrounds typically perceive in the bright disc of the full moon...
").
Popular culture
This song appears in the Season 4 episode of How I Met Your MotherHow I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
"Not a Father's Day
Not a Father's Day
"Not a Father's Day" is the seventh episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 71st overall. It originally aired on November 10, 2008.- Plot :...
" sung by Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, in the first season of 'Til Death
'Til Death
’Til Death is an American sitcom which aired on the Fox network from September 7, 2006, to June 20, 2010. The series was created by husband-and-wife team Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, who were also the writers and executive-producers...
sung by Brad Garrett, and also appears in the Season 6 episode of The Office
The Office
The Office is a popular mockumentary/situation comedy TV show that was first made in the UK and has now been re-made in many other countries, with overall viewership in the hundreds of millions worldwide. The original version of The Office was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It...
"St. Patrick's Day" sung by Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
and Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
. The song was heard at the end of the King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
episode "What Happens at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis Stays at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis." It was also featured in the first-season episode of Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, "The Son Also Draws," sung by the talking trees that Peter and Chris encounter on their vision quest in the forest. A segment of the song is played in Season 1 episode 5 of Happy Endings. A reference to the song was also expressed by Van and his relationship with his father in the TV show Reba.
A cover of this song was sung by the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
group Ugly Kid Joe
Ugly Kid Joe
Ugly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California. The band's name spoofs that of another band, Pretty Boy Floyd. Ugly Kid Joe's sound includes a range of styles, including rock, glam metal, hard rock and heavy metal....
on their album America's Least Wanted
America's Least Wanted
America's Least Wanted is the full-length debut album by rock band Ugly Kid Joe, released in September 1992 . The title is a parody of the famous phrase "America's Most Wanted". "Cat's in the Cradle" is a cover of American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin.Two of the songs had previously been...
. It sold over 500,000 copies in Australia.
The song also appears briefly on an episode of the American comedy-drama series Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
in the fourth season episode "My Unicorn
My Unicorn
"My Unicorn" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of U.S comedy-drama Scrubs. It guest starred and was directed by Friends star Matthew Perry, and first aired on November 23, 2004 on NBC.-Plot:...
", sung by John Bennett Perry
John Bennett Perry
John Bennett Perry is an American actor and former model. He is the father of actor Matthew Perry.-Life and career:Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of Maria Schaefer and Alton L. Perry. He married twice...
. The song also appears twice in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, in the Season 3 episode "Saturdays of Thunder
Saturdays of Thunder
"Saturdays of Thunder" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 14, 1991. In the episode, Homer takes a fatherhood quiz and realizes that he knows nothing about Bart. He strives to be a better father and learns that...
", and in the Season 6 episode "Bart's Girlfriend
Bart's Girlfriend
"Bart's Girlfriend" is the seventh television episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 1994. The plot of the episode follows the secret romance of Bart and Jessica Lovejoy, Reverend Lovejoy's daughter...
". The song also appears in Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007...
, sung by Donkey after Shrek finds out Fiona is pregnant to make him (Shrek) feel better, but it does not work. It was also used in the British government's public information film
Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...
asking people to report suspected terrorist activity. It was only broadcast in the Ulster Television region.
Charts
| Position | |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
Other Versions
- 1989 - Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
album Boom Chicka BoomBoom Chicka BoomBoom Chicka Boom is an album by American country music icon Johnny Cash, released in 1990 on Mercury Records. The title refers to the sound that Cash's backing band, the Tennessee Three were said to produce... - 1992 - Ugly Kid JoeUgly Kid JoeUgly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California. The band's name spoofs that of another band, Pretty Boy Floyd. Ugly Kid Joe's sound includes a range of styles, including rock, glam metal, hard rock and heavy metal....
album America's Least WantedAmerica's Least WantedAmerica's Least Wanted is the full-length debut album by rock band Ugly Kid Joe, released in September 1992 . The title is a parody of the famous phrase "America's Most Wanted". "Cat's in the Cradle" is a cover of American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin.Two of the songs had previously been... - Uptown Feature album The Best Of Fury Psychobilly Vol. 1
- Posted on the Internet is a song titled- Cat StevensCat StevensYusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
- "Cats in the cradle", Which, has been found to be a printing error. Cat Stevens / (Yusuf Islam); stated he has never performed the song, "not live", "not in the studio", and not even privately". ((Verified on Cat Stevens fan web site))
It is common to believe that Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
recorded this song. This is most likely due to that his song Father and Son is similar in its theme.