Cat's in the Cradle

Composition and background

"Cat's in the Cradle" is narrated by a man who becomes a father in the first stanza. He is constantly too busy with his work to spend time with his son, despite his son looking up to him and promising he will grow up to be just like him. When the son graduates from college, he declines his father's offer to relax with him and instead asks for the car keys. In the final stanza, the now-retired father calls his adult son and asks to spend some time together, but the son is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with his dad, and the father realizes his son has indeed grown up to be just like him.

The song's lyrics began as a poem written by Chapin's wife, Sandra "Sandy" Gaston; the poem itself was inspired by the awkward relationship between her first husband, James Cashmore, and his father, John, a politician who served as Brooklyn borough president. She was also inspired by a country music song she had heard on the radio. Chapin also said the song was about his own relationship with his son, Josh, admitting, "Frankly, this song scares me to death."

Reception

Cash Box called it "a tender story of a father and his son and a perfect representation of how roles change in the relationship over the years," stating it was a "lyrical delight." Record World said that the song "deals with the preoccupations plaguing parenthood" and that it "bridges the generation gap by pointing up mutual faults."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Ugly Kid Joe version

• Mercury
• Stardog
• Harry Chapin
• Sandra Chapin

In 1992, American hard rock band Ugly Kid Joe included a cover of the song, renamed "Cats in the Cradle" (without the apostrophe), on their debut album, America's Least Wanted (1992). The cover was produced by Mark Dodson and issued as a single in 1993 by Mercury Records. It experienced commercial success, becoming a top-10 hit in numerous countries. The accompanying music video was directed by American illustrator, photographer and film director Matt Mahurin.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked on the band's "revamped" version of the song. Mary Lynn White from Calgary Herald said their version "proves you're deep too." Jason Fliegel from The Cavalier Daily felt the band has redone the song "in its own unique style". Deborah Frost of Entertainment Weekly called it a "scarily straight" cover. Steve Hochman of Los Angeles Times said, "Turning Harry Chapin's 'Cat's in the Cradle' into a power ballad was a bad idea to begin with; making it sound neither snotty nor particularly sincere only compounds the error." Tom Ford from Toledo Blade wrote that they "do an excellent job", "adding power to the sing-song chorus, and a crashing finale that removes its coffeehouse patina."

Commercial performance

"Cats in the Cradle" peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, giving Ugly Kid Joe their highest-charting single on the ranking. The song also reached number three on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 11 on the Top 40/Mainstream chart. The single sold 500,000 copies domestically, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In Canada, the song peaked at number one on The Records singles chart and at number eleven on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. Outside North America, the cover topped Australia's ARIA Singles Chart for a week and reached the top five in Iceland, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, "Cats in the Cradle" charted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

Rapper Darryl "DMC" McDaniels was inspired to rewrite "Cat's in the Cradle" and perform it as "Just Like Me," featuring Sarah McLachlan. The song was released from DMC's album Checks Thugs and Rock n Roll in March 2006; it tells the story of his birth and adoption.

The song was used in a 1993 anti-terrorism advert in Northern Ireland that plays on the song's theme of a father who neglects his son in order to show a terrorist neglecting his family and his son turning out to be like his father and suffering the consequences by going down the same life path. The video ends with the slogan "Don't Suffer It, Change It" and the number of the confidential telephone line that was in operation at the time to report terrorist activity in Northern Ireland.

Long-running American sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia used the song in their season 12 episode "PTSDee", in which main characters Charlie and Dennis perform a strip routine to the song. The song was later used in the end credits.

The animated series Adventure Time used the song in the marketing for "Escape from the Citadel", which introduced the character of Finn's estranged biological father.

The song is sung by a patient in season four of the American sitcom Scrubs, to his estranged son.

A lyric of the song was mentioned by the father to his son in the Christmas episode of The Middle season 5.

The song was also referenced in the animated series BoJack Horseman, when the character Mr. Peanutbutter forces his accountant to stop spending time with his son to come back to work for him. The accountant's son says his father was supposed to play catch with him, and show him the song Cat's in the Cradle, to which the accountant says "Don't listen to it now [...] The lyrics are too relevant!"https://www.vulture.com/2016/07/bojack-horseman-recap-season-3-episode-1.html

The song is also sang by Donkey in "Shrek the Third". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_featured_in_Shrek

References

References

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