It was raining hard in 'Frisco,

[ET Awful]

I needed one more fare to make my night.
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,
She got in at the light.

Oh, where you going to, my lady blue,
It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.
She just looked out the window, and said
Sixteen Parkside Lane.

Something about her was familiar
I could swear I'd seen her face before,
But she said, I'm sure you're mistaken
And she didn't say anything more.

It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,
And she glanced at the license for my name.
A smile seemed to come to her slowly,
It was a sad smile, just the same.

And she said, How are you Harry?
I said, How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
and the too little smiles
I still remember you.

It was somewhere in a fairy tale,
I used to take her home in my car.
We learned about love in the back of the Dodge,
The lesson hadn't gone too far.

You see, she was gonna be an actress,
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off to find the sky.

Oh, I've got something inside me,
To drive a princess blind.
There's a wild man, wizard,
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind.

Oh, I've got something inside me,
Not what my life's about,
Cause I've been letting my outside tide me,
Over 'till my time, runs out.

Baby's so high that she's skying,
Yes she's flying, afraid to fall.
I'll tell you why baby's crying,
Cause she's dying, aren't we all.

There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.

And she said we must get together,
But I knew it'd never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
Harry, keep the change.

Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go...
I stashed the bill in my shirt.

And she walked away in silence,
It's strange, how you never know,
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.

You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off for the sky.

And here, she's acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I'm flying in my taxi,
Taking tips, and getting stoned,

I go flying so high, when I'm stoned.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. And the single thing I remember the most about this song...

...is the MANY comments from DJs about how people who are actually FROM San Francisco hate the term "Frisco" with a passion.

:evilgrin:

[libertypirate]

2. We only call it by it's full name here...

People not from the Bay Area use the term 'Frisco' I always found that sort of weird.

[ET Awful]

5. Well except for the residents of SF proper, most bay area people I know

just call it the City :)

[babylonsister]

3. What a talented, gracious, giving man.

We lost him way too soon.

[Debbi801]

4. Awesome song. I love Chapin. Was supposed to see him in concert...

The year he died.

[ET Awful]

6. I got into town a little early

Had eight hours to kill before the show
First I thought about heading up north of the bay
Then I knew where I had to go

I thought about taking a limousine
Or at least a fancy car
But I ended up taking a taxi
'Cause that's how I got this far

You see, ten years ago it was the front seat
Drivin' stoned and feelin' no pain
Now here I am straight and sittin' in the back
Hitting 16 Parkside Lane

The driveway was the same as I remembered
And a butler came and answered the door
He just shook his head when I asked for her
And said 'She doesn't live here anymore'

But he offered to give me the address
That they were forwarding her letters to
I just took it and returned to the cabbie
And said 'I got one more fare for you'

And so we rolled back into the city
Up to a five story old brownstone
I rang the bell that had her name on the mailbox
The buzzer said somebody's home

And the look on her face as she opened the door
Was like an old joke told by a friend
It'd taken ten more years but she'd found her smile
And I watched the corners start to bend

And she said, 'How are you Harry?
Haven't we played this scene before?'
I said 'It's so good to see you, Sue
Had to play it out just once more'

Play it out just once more

She said I've heard you flying high on my radio
I answered 'It's not all it seems'
That's when she laughed and she said, 'It's better sometimes
When we don't get to touch our dreams'

That's when I asked her where was that actress
She said 'That was somebody else'
And then I asked her why she looked so happy now
She said 'I finally like myself, at last I like myself'

So we talked all through that afternoon
Talking about where we'd been
We talked of the tiny difference
Between ending and starting to begin

We talked because talking tells you things
Like what you really are thinking about
But sometimes you can't find what you're feeling
'til all the words run out

So I asked her to come to the concert
She said 'No, I work at night.'
I said, 'We've gotten too damn good at leaving, Sue'
She said, 'Harry, you're right'

Don't ask me if I made love to her
Or which one of us started to cry
Don't ask me why she wouldn't take the money that I left
If I answered at all I'd lie

So I thought about her as I sang that night
And how the circle keeps rolling around
How I act as I'm facing the footlights
And how she's flying with both feet on the ground

I guess it's a sequel to our story
From the journey 'tween heaven and hell
With half the time thinking of what might have been
And half thinkin' just as well

I guess only time will tell

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

7. Harry Chapin, what a great storyteller.

I was fortunate enough to see him perform at the Arie Crown Theatre in McCormick Place in 1976. Great show!!!

[ET Awful]

8. I love his stuff, I do kind of think that a lot of it

was over-produced. I think I would have liked it even more without all the orchestra stuff.

[StopTheMorans]

so what? i only care about the current weather, and the weather in Boston

at that :P

[ET Awful]

11. Well it was rainin' hard in Bedford . . . I don't know about Boston

:)

[StopTheMorans]

12. it IS rainin hard in Waltham, and it was in Boston this am too

i bet quinn would LOVE it outside today :7

[ET Awful]

13. Hehehe, he was sitting on the windowsill purring when I left . .

and Althea was attacking his tail :)

[chelsea0011]

9. I found some of work a little sappy, but I loved the sound of his voice

He had a beautiful, sweet and powerful sound to his singing.

[ET Awful]

10. Like I said above, it was over-produced . . .

ditch the orchestra and he would have sounded much more sincere and less sappy.

Like . . . picture his songs done in more of Jim Croce style with just a second guitarist half the time and a bass player and a subdued percussionist occasionally. . . . still very mellow and laid back, but you can lose alot of the "sappiness" just by gettin' rid of the strings and horns :)