Cat’s in the Cradle

Short one today.

I woke up this morning with a headache, which is one of the best conditions for writing something utterly unrelated to anything else I’m doing. So here goes.

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The first thing I did (after taking half a No-Doz generic substitute and fixing myself a cup of Pero) was to turn on my computer and Pandora station. The first song to come on was “Cat’s in the Cradle,” by Harry Chapin. For those of you who don’t know it, this song is about a man who’s too busy to play with his son while he’s growing up, and then later, when the dad wants to spend time with his son, the son is too busy to come visit: “You see, the new job’s a hassle and the kids have the flu, but it’s been sure nice talking to you, Dad.” The song ends with the dad coming to the realization that his son really had grown up just like him, as he’d said he would all those years ago.

It’s a sad, sentimental, heavily orchestrated, and terribly moralistic song. At least, that’s the way I took it back when I first heard it. And I think that’s how it was meant to be. But on hearing it again recently for the first time in a while (probably on a Pandora station), I found that my perspective had changed.

Listening to the song, I still feel a bit of that sharp message about not spending time on the most important relationships in one’s life. Mostly, though, what I hear is a father and son both reaching out to each other despite the busy-ness of their lives. I hear a father who cared about what was going on in his son’s life, even if he couldn’t always spend the time he and his son wanted. And I hear a son whose life is busy and terribly stressed, but who still talks to his dad on the phone to let him know what’s going on. All in all, I think I prefer that message.

And now I’d better get ready for church…