In 1974, Harry Chapin released the song “Cat’s in the Cradle.” The folk rock hit, about a busy father and son who didn’t have time for one another, peaked at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 in December 1974. The tearjerker single was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975 and became Chapin’s signature song.
“Cat’s in the Cradle” was named one of the 10 saddest songs of all time in a reader’s poll conducted by Rolling Stone. The outlet notes that the lyrics to the song began as a poem by Chapin’s wife, Sandy, about a distant relationship between a father and his child.
In a 1975 interview with radio broadcaster Studs Terkel, Chapin admitted that his wife’s poem was also a mild “zinger” at him for being busy with concerts and not seeing much of their 2-year-old son, Josh, at the time.
“I took the poem and changed around a little bit with some rhymes in it and made a song that I never also thought would be a single,” he shared. “It turned out to be a number 1 hit.”
“I think ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ has probably affected some fathers and mothers in a way that might make them deal with their kids a little bit differently. I know it’s affected me,” the singer added.
Harry Chapin died 7 years after he released ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’
By 1981, Chapin’s own children would relate to his hit song in a devastating way.
On July 16, 1981, Chapin died in a car accident after being rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on the Long Island Expressway. The singer was only 38 years old at the time of his sudden death, per an obituary posted by the New York Times. In addition to his wife, parents, and siblings, Chapin left behind five children—Jaimie, Jono, Jason, Jenny, and Josh— whom he never got to see grow up.
Chapin’s daughter, Jen, and sons Jason and Josh looked back on their father’s legacy in a 2025 interview for CBS News. Jen Chapin admitted that when fans would talk about how much time Chapin spent performing benefits concerts and doing meet and greets, she would think, “’That’s great, but that was time we didn’t have.'”
She added that her dad was not like the dad in “Cat’s in the Cradle.” “He really loved kids,” she clarified. “When he came home, he wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna, like, zone out.’ He was, ‘Yes! Projects! Trips! Family outings!'”
Jason Chapin added that “Cat’s in the Cradle” shouldn’t be thought of as simply a song about lost time. “Some people interpret the last verse, when the dad calls the son to say, ‘Let’s get together,’ the son is too busy for his dad. Because he’s busy with his own family, being a good dad,” he pointed out. “It needs a little close reading sometimes.”
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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