Cats Cradle By Harry Chopin Essay

Cats Cradle is a game played by children with a string. This is not the case for the song, Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. Chapin isn't joking around with this song, he is touching on a topic different than the usual pop love song bullshit. The song follows the life of a father from the child's birth to the child growing up. This song is very impactful and shares some serious lessons about parenting and the self.
Teenagers roll their eyes when they are told “you are just like your parents.” But sadly this is true, our parents help form who we become. Children look up to their parents like they are superheros. They are always watching the people around them and soaking everything up like a sponge. “ I got a lot to do, he said, that's okay, And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed, Said “I’m gonna be like him, yeah” (Chapin). He is conveying the message to people that you are an idol to your children and they adore you. Children are too young to know if their parents are good or bad because to them everything their parents do is right.
The song subtle critique people's parenting and trying to have them change before they permanently mess up their kids.
As the story goes on and the son grows up the impact of his father begins to show. One verse says, “ Son, I’m proud of you, Can you sit for a while? He shook his head, and he said with a smile, What i’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys, See you later, Can I have them please?”(Chapin). As kids get older they start to see that there parents aren't superheroes. It typically becomes very clear that your parent s are absolutely not perfect. Their mistakes become clearer and clearer and the affects of them start to affect you. The reason teenagers grow apart from their parents because they lose the naive filter and see them for what they are…
humans.
If your parents are shitty then most likely you will be too. It’s an endless cycle. It’s not your fault, your programed to be like them. We have all had those dreadful moments when you do something and you want to facepalm yourself because you were just so much like your mom you want to puke. It’s subconscious. In the final verse of the song it shows how the roles get reversed. When the Dad realizes how important his son his to him and starts devoting time to him it’s too late, the damage can’t be undone. “ You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kid’s got the flu, but it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad, It’s been sure nice talking to you, And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me He’d grown up just like me”(Chapin). The father now regrets not being there enough but there is nothing he can do now. Chapin uses the song to warn all parents before it’s too late. Before your children and you are strangers.
The song is sad, but it’s the sad truth we most often ignore. We become are parents and how they treated people is imprinted on us. This song is impactful because it hits right in the heart because it is the unfiltered results of absent parenting. Chapin is the first if not the only artist who plunged in and took on such an unspoken issue. The song really makes you think about who’s important to you, and do go out of your way to spent time with them, before it's too late.