It’s been 30 years……
Since Harry Chapin left us.
Aaron Goldstein remembers:
I remember hearing about on the CBS Morning News the following day. What I distinctly remember about that report was that instead of the concert being cancelled, fans brought their guitars and went on stage to play Chapin’s songs. That has always stayed with me. In 2001, I comemorated what happened the day Chapin died with a poem called “A Thousand Guitars & A Cello” which would later appear in my first poetry chapbook, Oysters & The Newborn Child:
When it was announced that you would not perform
The observers and participants continued to arrive
Refusing to be deterred by the bitter storm
Determined to see that the music would survive
A thousand guitars ascended the stage
Accompanied by a single cello
Our stories would fill the blank page
For one night we all stood friend & fellow
In a land where hope is faint
Destiny and fate are still ours to choose
The portrait of ourselves we paint
Challenges us to better fill our shoes
Life will not be about loss and win
When we understand that the circle never ends or begins
*snip*
When Chapin wasn’t performing in concert or working on his latest album, he could be seen on Capitol Hill lobbying Senators and Congressmen about the issue of world hunger. Although Chapin leaned liberal (before he became famous he worked on one of Allard Lowenstein ‘s congressional campaigns in New York), he would talk to anybody about addressing world hunger – Democrat or Republican. Well, Chapin made an indelible impression. Then Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole eulogized him on the floor of the Senate. Dole was one of nearly forty Senators and Congressmen paid tribute to Chapin that day. When he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in December 1987 both Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch were on hand to sing Chapin’s praises. Chapin didn’t hate the people who didn’t share his politics. On the contrary, he wanted to persuade conservatives just as much as he wanted to persuade liberals.
Now a few thoughts of my own about Harry Chapin:
Harry Chapin was one who, unlike many of the entertainment industry, actually practiced what he preached. Unlike many of the Hollywood and entertainment Liberal crowd in California, Chapin saw wrong and tried to fix it. Was he a liberal? Absolutely, however back in Chapin’s day, being a liberal meant an entirely different thing, than it does today. I truly believe if he saw what the Democratic Party was about today; at the very least, he would be a libertarian.
Chapin was a part of the “thinking” artists and liberals of his era. He fought for what he believed in, did what he loved and helped one hell of a great deal of people doing it. He; like Gordon Lightfood, like Jim Croce and many more like them — inspired many in that era to not accept what the previous generation told them, but to think for themselves.
America is a much shallow place without him.
Rest in peace Harry — God knows, you earned in the short time you were here.