想必对于任何一个人来说，一个初出茅庐不到30岁的青年，凭借执导一部纪有暗香盈袖录片获得Academy Award（即奥斯卡）的提名，都应该是个相当辉煌的事业开端。然而今天我要讲的这个人在此刻则选择从事音乐事业，下面就是这个名字了 － Harry Chapin。
Harry Chapin出自名门贵胄，他直系先祖Deacon Samuel Chapin是麻省的开拓者之一，家族里出过2位美国总统以及J.P.Morgan。Harry Chapin的父亲Jim Chapin是著名的jazz鼓手和教学者，和Gene Krupa以及Buddy Rich都是几十年的好友。Jim的几个孩子都从事音乐事业，Tom Chapin是格莱美获奖者，致力于儿童音乐创作。家庭中的女性后来也组建了The Chapin Sisters......
下面说的是HC最早打动我的一首歌叫做"Taxi"，或许HC早年是个成功电影导演的原因，这首叙事民谣作品完全电影般从双耳缓缓拉开银幕覆盖双眼。故事讲述的是雨夜里一个潦倒的沉溺毒薄雾浓云愁永昼品的出租司机拉到的一名女客是昔日的情人，然而当时已经是出名的女明星，两个人在短暂交谈后，最后又平静分开的故事。歌词如下：
It was raining hard in 'Frisco,
I needed one more fare to make my night.
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,
She got in at the light.
Oh, where you going to, my lady blue,
It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.
She just looked out the window, and said
"Sixteen Parkside Lane".
Something about her was familiar
I could swear I'd seen her face before,
But she said, "I'm sure you're mistaken"
And she didn't say anything more.
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,
And she glanced at the license for my name.
A smile seemed to come to her slowly,
It was a sad smile, just the same.
And she said, "How are you Harry?"
I said, "How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
and the too little smiles
I still remember you."
It was somewhere in a fairy tale,
I used to take her home in my car.
We learned about love in the back of the Dodge,
The lesson hadn't gone too far.
You see, she was gonna be an actress,
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off to find the sky.
Oh, I've got something inside me,
To drive a princess blind.
There's a wild man, wizard,
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind.
Oh, I've got something inside me,
Not what my life's about,
Cause I've been letting my outside tide me,
Over 'till my time, runs out.
Baby's so high that she's skying,
Yes she's flying, afraid to fall.
I'll tell you why baby's crying,
Cause she's dying, aren't we all.
There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.
And she said we must get together,
But I knew it'd never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change."
Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go...
I stashed the bill in my shirt.
And she walked away in silence,
It's strange, how you never know,
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off for the sky.
And here, she's acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I'm flying in my taxi,
Taking tips, and getting stoned,
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned.
歌里当Sue扔下钱告诉Harry不用找了，Harry先是伴着急促的提琴声激动的唱到"有的男人会愤怒/有的男人会受伤/有的男人不会让她离开"，随后在一片平静中自嘲的唱"而我只是把钱塞进背心"
Harry Chapin － 1972 - Heads & Tales
HC另外一首更有名的作品"cat's in the cradle",则是讲述一个事业为重的父亲从小疏于和儿子的亲情，终有一日，老迈的父亲发现，儿子和他一样重于事业，无暇估计他和孙子。
Harry Chapin - 1974 - Verities & Balderdash
Harry Chapin的大多作品都是忠实平静描述人生百态的故事（比如描述一个年迈DJ晚景的"W*O*L*D"，Cat Stevens也曾经向Harry Chapin致敬）。然而如果HC如果真的只坐Taxi的话，那么今天这篇文的结尾会哈皮多了，因为HC本人1981年自己驾车发生车祸去世。
然而HC死后仍旧可以无所顾忌的自嘲，用他那首描述一场车祸的歌曲"30000 pounds of bananas",其实我真的希望他当时撞上的就是三万磅的香蕉.....
