A Better Place to Be

Something that is becoming more rare these days in the world of music is the singer-songwriter. We baby-boomers were fortunate to have had access to the efforts of many talented individuals who flourished in the eclectic world of the old FM music scene before the media corporations got there claws into radio and ruined it for us. Nowadays, short of perhaps the "oldies" stations, every station serves an extremely narrow niche or genre, and only those who obey the dictates of what the marketing people claim is "hot" will get airtime. Isn't it a pity? Isn't it a shame?
Old FM brought us such underground wonders as ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Grand Funk Railroad, and probably many others even I never got around to hearing on my little Japanese transistor radio beneath the sheets late at night. And alongside these guys we also got to enjoy John Denver, Barbara Striesand, Jim Croche, and my all time favorite from a long lost era, Harry Chapin.
It almost brings a tear to my eye to think that my readers half my age or younger probably have no idea who Harry Chapin was. I'm sure the two songs he is most famous for would probably sound familiar to everyone, such as Cat's in the Cradle, and Taxi. Ah, but the man produced a treasure trove of well written, soul grabbing songs that never got alot of airplay even back then, now heard only on his albums. And the saddest fact of all is that Harry left us at a relative early age, dying in an auto accident. They say that only the good die young. Well, then death was stalking Harry since he was born, because aside from songs that said things people needed to hear as well as enjoy, Harry poured his heart into efforts to end world hunger.
Harry's songs were such that corporate america today would have absolutely no use for them, and I can assure you he would never have gotten much attention today, as he played by HIS rules, not being a slave to music fashion.
The older I get, the more I miss Harry. Every once in awhile I have to pull up his music on the computer and listen to hours of his stuff just to re-center myself, to have a heartstring pulled, to suffer some righteous guilt, to laugh. Thanks to him and his contemporaries I am able to appreciate the few souls who today have managed to skirt the many sandbars of modern media and give us the food our souls so desperately need, such as John Prine, and even Yanni. I am going to close out this post today with the lyrics to a song I'm sure my younger audience probably never heard, but I'm sure that even they can appreciate, and might want to listen to by investing in one of Harry Chapin's many albums. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do every time I hear it.


A Better Place to be

by Harry Chapin



It was an early morning bar room,
And the place just opened up.
And the little man come in so fast and
Started at his cup.
And the broad who served the whisky
She was a big old friendly girl.
And she tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin' at the world.

And she said "Hey Bub, It's been awhile
Since you been around.
Where the hell you been hidin' ?
And why you look so down ?"

But the little man just sat there like he'd never heard a sound.

The waitress she gave out with a cough,
And acting not the least put off,
She spoke once again.

She said, "I don't want to bother you,
Consider it's understood.
I know I'm not no beauty queen,
But I sure can listen good."

And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips.
He took a couple of sips.
And he told the waitress this story.

"I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rusting, and I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite.
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright.

"Oh she was so damned beautiful that she'd warm a winter's frost.
But she was long past lonely, and well nigh unto lost.
Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try.

"Tongued-tied like a school boy, I stammered out some words.
But it did not really matter much, 'cause I don't think she heard.
She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head.
And it shamed me into silence, as quietly she said,
'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be.
Anywhere's a better place to be.'

"I drove her to my boarding house, and I took her up to my room.
And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom.
But she said, 'Please leave the light off, Oh I don't mind the dark.'
And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart.
The moonlight shown upon her as she lay back in my bed.
It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head.
I just could not believe it, to think that she was real.
And as I tried to tell her she said 'Shhh.. I know just how you feel.
And if you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be.
anywhere's a better way to be.'

"The morning come so swiftly as I held her in my arms.
But she slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm.
I did not want to share her with the world or break the mood,
So before she woke I went out and brought us both some food.

"I came back with my paper bag, to find out she was gone.
She'd left a six word letter saying 'It's time that I moved on.'"

The waitress took a bar rag, and she wiped it across her eyes.
And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh.
She said "I wish that I was beautiful, or that you were halfway blind.
And I wish I weren't so dog-gone fat, I wish that you were mine.
And I wish that you'd come with me, when I leave for home.
For we both know all about loneliness, and livin' all alone."

And the little man,
Looked at the empty glass in his hand.
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, " I guess I'm out of gin.
And I know that we both have been so lonely.
And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be