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Stranger With the Melodies - Harry Chapin



     
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Stranger With the Melodies Lyrics


It was my first night in that rooming house
In the last room down the hall
I heard a hoarse voice and an old guitar
Coming through the paper thin wallsA crazy nonsense nursery rhyme
That did not mean a thing
But for the first of what was to be a thousand times
This is what I hear him singHold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around to DI had to lay there listening
It seemed he was in the room
This stranger with his melody
Singing there in the gloomAnd he repeated it over and over again
Such a soft and sinkin' sound
It was kind of like a music box
That was slowly winding downYou see, he sang it, he hummed it
Whistled it, and he strummed it
He laughed it and he cried it

He did everything but hide itAnd he sang
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around for meSo I lay there in that lumpy bed
Countin' choruses instead of sheep
'Til I banged on the wall and out I called
"Hey bub, I need some sleep"The sudden void of silence
Then I heard that hoarse voice say
"It weren't so long ago, boy
They paid me to play "I said, "It's kind of late for music, sir
Two hours 'til it's daylight"
He answered, "I need my music most
In these dark hours of the nightYou see I've tried gettin' high on something son
But it only brings me down
Staying dry don't work out better, boy
'Cause my eyes get wet and I drownWon't you please let me continue
And I'll be in your debt?
You see I'm not singing to remember, son
I'm just singing to forget"And he sang
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around for meThat's when I said
"If I'm supposed to listen to you sir
Just one quick question then
Why in the hell do you sing one song
Over and over again?"And this is what he said
He said, "I gave her the music, son
She gave me the words
Together we'd write the kind of songs
The angels must have heardOf course we'd fight like cats and dogs
But life ain't no rosebud dream
Still whatever we'd do everybody knew
We truly were a teamI can't remember now if I done her wrong
Or if she done wrong to me
But all I know that when I let her go
That it did not set me free''That's when I said, "You sound like what's-his-name"
He said, "That's who I am
But you can't wrap a name around you, boy
'Cause it really don't mean a damn""You see, a song don't have much meaning
When it don't have nothing to say
What she could do was magic, son
All I could do was play"He started singing again
That's when I drifted off
Maybe I dreamed what I heard
'Bout this stranger with his melody
Who'd gone and lost the wordsHold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around to D

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Harry Chapin (December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer and songwriter. Chapin's debut album, Heads and Tales (1972), was a success thanks to the single "Taxi". His follow-up album, Sniper and Other Love Songs, was less successful; but his third, Short Stories, was a major success. Verities & Balderdash, released soon after, was even more successful, bolstered by the chart-topping hit single "Cat's in the Cradle". He also wrote and performed a Broadway musical, The Night That Made America Famous.

In the mid 1970s, Chapin focused on social activism, including raising money to combat hunger in the United States and co-founding the organization World Hunger Year, before returning to music with On the Road to Kingdom Come. He also released a book of poetry, Looking...Seeing, in 1977.

His fellow Long Islanders loved him for his support of local artists, as well. He and his wife Sandy raised funds for the Performing Arts Foundation, a now-defunct local theatre group. They also supported the Long Island Ballet. The band shell at Huntington's Hecksher Park is named for Harry Chapin.

Chapin died on July 16, 1981 in an automobile accident on the Long Island Expressway at the age of 38. He was headed west from Huntington Bay, where he lived with his wife and three children, to perform a concert in Eisenhower Park in Nassau County when his car was struck by a truck. An autopsy showed that he had suffered a heart attack, but it could not be determined whether that occurred before or after the collision. Supermarkets General, the owner of the truck, paid $12 million in the ensuing litigation.

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Harry Chapin