Cats In The Cradle Lyrics Meaning

A phrase in the first verse which to me is his way of saying that at first there was nothing special about his son.

Cats in the cradle lyrics meaning. He s alluding to the passage of time that his little boy was growing up in the usual way. Cat s in the cradle was a combination of a couple of things. And the cat s in the cradle and the silver spoon little boy blue and the man on the moon refers to growing up i believe. He asks for his fathers attention and his response to his son is not now later when the father has the time i m guessing he s retired the son has a family of his own.

The cat s in the cradle presents the problem of personal and extreme dedication to work and the subsequent neglect of family by a father or any parent or guardian of a child. This song is based on a poem that harry s wife sandy wrote. The weaving patterns are intricate and complex. In a glaring twist of roles we see that the son now has no time to spend with his father.

Like many fathers today the song states the conversations between father and son. General commenti ve heard it sung by harry chapin and james taylor and my dad says that harry chapin is the original and my personal favorite. Cats in the cradle by harry chapin a child arrived just the other day 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 before i knew it and as he grew he said i m gonna be like you dad you know i m gonna be like you and the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon little boy blue and the man in the moon when you comin home dad i don t know when but we ll get together then you know we ll have. The phrase cat s in the cradle is a line from a popular song that people sometimes quote to reference the song itself or the theme of fatherhood or the theme of not having enough time to spend on a relationship.

Nowhere in the song does it mention a woman only a father and son. The poem and story reflects harry chapin s life as a son himself and the fear that he could be that to his son josh chapin said and frankly the song scares me to death soundstage commentary see sources. Basically the cats in the cradle is the son and the silver spoon is the father in the sense that the son is at home while the father is away making money to feed silver spoon and take care of the childs welfare. His life is busy with sick children and bills to pay.

That s because this phrase is derived from a classic children s game called you guessed it cat s cradle in which two or more children pass a loop of string back and forth between their hands to create various figures. With a heavy heart dad realizes that his boy has become just like him. Cat s in the cradle is a song about the relationship of a son and his father not about a woman with a cat.