Cat's in the Cradle

Harry Chapin's original, the father-and-son story that turns its own chorus inside out by the last verse. Each verse jumps forward a few years, and the lines are so conversational that the singer is really reporting dialogue. The melody stays in a comfortable folk range and the pace is steady, so all the effort can go into the final reversal. It is a quiet song that can still a noisy room, which is either exactly what the evening needs or a mood-killer; pick your moment.