I’ve always found this song very melancholic and bittersweet. It was originally a folk rock song by Harry Chapin, though I first heard the Ugly Kid Joe version. It’s always been a staple song when I was growing up and it wasn’t until my English class in college examined contemporary songs that I knew the full import of it. 

The famous chorus goes:

And the cats in the cradle
and the silver spoon
little boy blue and the
man on the moon
when you comin’ home son
I don’t know when
we’ll get together then
you know we’ll have
a good time then

The song is about a father who is too busy to spend any time with his son, and always gives vague promises that he will. The young son doesn’t resent the father; rather he wants to be like the him. When the son grows up, he actually does turn out like the father – he gives the retired old man the same vague promises of spending time.  The son’s now too busy with his own family, work, whatever.

A vicious cycle.

I’ve always liked the reference to nursery rhymes with the silver spoon, little boy blue, man on the moon, etc, in the chorus… even when I didn’t know what it meant. It has a nice lyrical quality to it. Now I guess it’s meant to allude to a childhood lost and missed by the father.

I think I connect more with songs about, heh, parents. If you know me, you know I feel a keen responsibility to mine. I don’t necessarily show them as much affection as I guess I should, but that’s just thanks to the Asian expression of non-expression. And my relationship with my dad is a whole different story altogether… that needs a whole new post ><

Ok, back to work. Sigh.