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Taxi Lyrics

Artist: Harry Chapin

It was raining hard in 'Frisco,
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.

Comments/Interpretations
by Doug on 6/22/2008 1:14pm This song cuts to the heart and exposes the truth with its pants down. You can't listen to this song because it hurts so much - especially when you're 45ish - but you can't stop obsessing and clinging to it because it's so damn beautiful, meaningful, and true. A VERY PERSONAL truth about me and many others stopped dead in our tracks by this song.
by MIKE on 6/26/2008 10:32am WE HAVE ALL BEEN HARRY OR SUE SOMETIME IN OUR LIFE.I REGRET VERY LITTLE BECAUSE I AM A PRODUCT OF MY EXPIERIENCS THIS SONG SAYS IT ALL AND I HAVE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
by John on 6/30/2008 3:56pm I discover this song about 10 years ago,i´m 26 and it was so beautiful the moment i heard the song,i never knew the name and if i did a forgot until this days i was thinking of the song and today i found it again,like Mike & Doug say,we ourselves become Harry somewhere in our life and got our own Sue,it´s the sadness of the ¿What if...?
by Nancy on 6/30/2008 7:45pm I first heard this song when I lived in San Diego California 1971 or 72. Only heard bits and pieces cause it is such a long song then I acutally got to hear it all the way thru and wow, it made me sad. I was very young and listening to it again, I feel alot like Harry.
by Wyatt on 7/18/2008 10:18am Every time I hear this beautiful song I get a lump in my throat,and like the fine comment made by Doug this song stops me in my tracks.
by Larry on 7/26/2008 9:27am I'm surprised I'm still impacted by this song. I was a big fan in the 70's but for some reason it's come back into my head a lot. (45-ish.... isn't that odd!) I'm still confused why my eyes well up. There is just something painfully universal about this song.
by Dave on 7/27/2008 1:35pm I just noticed this song today. If I'd heard it before, I hadn't noticed it. But today, my own "Sue: is back and we are finding we have lots to talk about. What we once had is very much still there. Sorry for you, Harry.
by Sweet Du on 7/29/2008 6:48pm Few songs of any era have the emotion and sentiment of "Taxi". Rest in eternal peace, Harry...for "we'd both gotten what we asked for, such a long, long time ago."
by Mike C on 7/31/2008 6:06pm I first heard this when I was in third grade when my mother played it on her album all the time. She was in love with the song. I haven't heard it since about fifth grade, but I always remembered the lyrics. I'm 43 now, and still haven't heard the song since... I came here to see if my memory of the lyrics was correct. It's amazing what you can retain from an amazing story... Harry Chapin was an incredible story-teller... R.I.P.
by Pete on 8/6/2008 9:59am A dangerous song, a sentiment so strong that it can blind one to the future. I'm talking to my Sue again and my marriage is less safe because of it.
by Bob P on 8/13/2008 1:34pm This song is poignant even if you didn't have a "Sue" in your past because of the two wasted lives. Luckily Harry's wasn't wasted at all; he affected millions of people as only a true poet can. I was lucky enough to see him in person opening for Woody Allen when Woody was still doing "Stand Up". I won't say how long ago that was but Groucho Marx was in the audience!
by Phil on 8/24/2008 3:20pm Im a singer / song writer and i can tell you, this is the art. If you can tell a story in 4 minutes and have an effect , inject the picture in your mind and take some one to where the story takes place, you have a gift. In the time it takes to listen to this song, it would take hours in movie format or days in book . Harry was an artist. A very lost aspect of music today. I am so happy i lived in his generation ( mine ) . Musicians are so lazy now. God Bless Harry Chapin .
by bojack on 8/25/2008 2:55am The killer part of "Taxi" is the bridge in the middle, where you seem to hear what the characters are thinking. Harry really lets his guard down there, and he lets the lady do the same. So raw. By the time he gets back to the narrative of the taxi ride, it's a whole different ballgame.
by JD on 8/25/2008 9:23am ..."Through the too many miles and too little smiles I still remember you."... Treacly sentimentality. Yet I still get misty-eyed. Between this song and "Cat's in the Cradle" Mr Chapin was a specialist in making me cry.
by toby on 8/25/2008 1:49pm the lucky ones don't get this song.............lucky them
by James on 8/31/2008 10:34pm It's a great song about who you wanted to be and who you are now. It's sad some of us identify with the lyrics and we realize it may be to late for that second chance. I'm proud of who I am now cause it's the only thing I can control. As for the Sue,s in the world, if they left - it's there loss.
by Bob on 9/3/2008 12:35pm I agree with all of the commenters (it says something about you if you stopped to comment on Harry's lyrics TODAY after so many years since its release). I get the song, but can't really fathom the true meaning of these lines... Insights?? "... 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. "
by Bill on 9/13/2008 12:35pm The beauty of Harry Chapin's songs is not just that he sang from the heart but that he always took the time to pay attention to his own emotions while being so wonderfully open to others, particularly those living on the margins. I only saw him perform live once, on a night when his brother Tom stopped by to share a couple of songs with him but it was a treasured, forever memorable evening!
by steve on 9/15/2008 6:45pm i was stationed in Quonset Pt Rhode Island when i first heard Taxi.....being a southern boy from the deep south i had never heard that song .this was in 1972 by the way.........ive loved it and Harry's music ever since........saw him twice in person...a great live performer.....and im not ashamed to say.....i cried when he was killed
by Kurt on 9/18/2008 7:33pm I am both amazed and glad that there are so many recent comments written here about a song that was written so long ago. I was a freshman in college when Taxi first hit the radio waves and brought Harry Chapin into the mainstream in 1972. I've been one of his biggest fans ever since. My 20-year-old son is also a Harry Chapin fan. I have never had a good grasp on what Harry intended with the lines that Bob quoted above on 9/3. I guess he was saying that there was a better man inside of himself than his current life was demonstrating. If so, he certainly proved that to be true between 1972 and 1981. There are two people whose death so greatly saddened me that I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I learned that they had been killed. One was JFK; the other was Harry Chapin.
by Sue on 9/23/2008 4:33pm Always loved this song, even if I am a "Sue"!! I, like Bob, don't understand those lines either.
by Bill on 10/2/2008 7:43pm The lines in question simply mean that Harry is more than what he appears to be on the outside, but because he has let his outside "tide" him in for so long, we never get to see the wild wizard hidden deep inside...unless he gets high or is jogged out his memory (by seeing Sue) of earlier times when the inside was less inhibited. Doesn't this make sense? Don't we all get this way with age? Not many songs like this one are written nowadays. I keep it alive though by listening to it every now and then. A 45 year old guy.
by Vicki on 10/8/2008 5:40pm I LOVE this song--pure poetry, as is most of Chapin's work. Harry Chapin was like the wandering story-telling minstrel of our times. Saw him live in 1979: one of the BEST performances I've ever witnessed.
by Ken on 10/12/2008 11:18pm I was 16 working in a restaurant when this song caused my nickname to be "Harry" for a few years (not my idea). This actually has no bearing on the fact that I think it's one of the best songs of all time. In my opinion, the wild man wizard lines refer to what he was capable of, and could have achieved... but unfortunately didn't. My most recent enlightenment is the four lines sung by John Wallace (baby's so high that she's skying.. etc.). I didn't know the actual words until fairly recently when I looked up the lyrics online. When I did, it became the only song I've ever heard that blew me away twice.
by Clyde on 10/13/2008 2:33pm Bill, you're right on the money. I didn't find this song until the 1980s and think its one of the most underrated classics of all-times because it stirs so many different emotions from people. It's a song of lost dreams, hard realities and how a chance meeting can send all those memories flooding back to us. Few songs (if any) do that today.
by by mare 10/16/2008 11;30pm on 10/16/2008 10:34pm it not just a song its more like a time and a place you can not buy a memory but somtimes you mite have to pay for one lessons as our lives go on
by by mare 10/16/2008 11;30pm on 10/17/2008 1:13pm this is not just a song it is a time and a place in a life you can not buy a memory but sometimes you have to pay for one always becareful what you ask for time is everything
by deborah on 10/23/2008 3:46pm This a beautiful, poignant song, but as he said in the end "we'd both gotten what we asked for. . . . ." It is bitter-sweet and evokes both sad and happy feelings for me (to listen to and sing). To me it speaks to the acceptance of the decisions I've made over the years, that cannot be changed, and as I get older (55) I've learned you have to make the best out of life regardless of the choices you have made. Peace
by Donny on 10/24/2008 3:06pm This song has been giving chills for 35 years. From the guitar harmonics in the beginning, to the falsetto singing part in the middle (dream sequence), and the sad parting of Harry and Sue at the end. It is true masterpiece! By the way, he wrote a sequel in 1980 when Harry and Sue meet again 10 yrs later.
by Lindy on 11/6/2008 12:45pm Regrets and irony--very powerful
by Marty on 11/12/2008 1:52am Came to this site to finally discover the falsetto lyrics which have eluded me all these years. Needless to say, they are as haunting as the rest of the song. "Taxi" has always been a personal song for me - I used to drive a taxi and my first great love was a "Sue". Sad to say, I'm still hoping to find my rainy night in Frisco, and find her again.
by Lexie on 11/15/2008 12:57pm My hobby is quilting and I just finished a screaming yellow, black and white quilt called Taxi. Harry's song kept spinning through my head while I worked on this. Quilters always put labels on the back of their finished quilts and mine will be dedicated to Harry Chapin with a few lines from his beautiful bittersweet song.
by JTB on 11/15/2008 2:50pm I would never want to see my 'Sue' again, unless it was in these very circumstances. Fortunately, I don't drive a cab. Unfortunately, Harry's words and voice cut right through me, and this song brings me almost to tears every time.
by grog on 11/15/2008 5:48pm i hear this song and i fly back 32 to years to a girl named julie and damn if i don't weep
by Dan on 11/21/2008 10:33am I'm 56. I've heard this song hundreds of times--and each time I still get misty-eyed, for reasons I'll keep private.
by MRA on 11/25/2008 9:57am I remember hearing this song when I was 10 or so, and I loved it but of course I couldn't really understand - BUT I was impacted anyway by the art. It was one of those songs that felt somewhat "sacred" to me, like I knew it was (going to be) important. Now here I am aged 47, just heard it again, and the lyrics really grabbed me, and I had to re-read them. So real, and the structure of the song just floors you.
by Richard on 11/28/2008 9:59pm I certainly agree with Bill's comments and sometimes it is "that" simple. Also, "... we'd both gotten what we'd asked for...", which reminds me of a old Springsteen tune - "With every Wish" and today's McMurtry "Ruby and Carlos". All 3 make me "feel" and "smile" which is why I listen as an 'old man' who turns 50 tomorrow. Cheers and Thanks Harry!
by H on 12/7/2008 12:00am I'll never forget one of the most amazing nights of my life. I was either a freshman or sophomore at Hofstra University in 1970 or 1971 when Harry played at the Rathskeller, a small gathering place. I was sitting no more than 10 feet from him. It was such an amazing evening, I left and came right back for his second show. His songs and story-telling are simply breathtaking. "A Better Place to Be," is truly a haunting song, but there are so many. The other night, I sang "Taxi" in karaoke, and never had because it's such a long song. People loved it, and I even did the falsetto part! In our hearts and minds, Harry Chapin never died.
by queen patty on 12/8/2008 2:52pm oh yes Dan! at 50 it tears me up too. i try my darnedest not to have any regrets, but there is always that one guy that I let go. . . chapin tells a poignant, bittersweet tale--have you heard his Taxi, pt. 2?
by Jürgen on 12/14/2008 4:57pm This song is powerful not only for its lyrics, which with the exception of the slight flaw "the too little smiles" are rock solid and lean, but also the subtlety of the accompaniment - elaborate and with not a hint of the maudlin to be heard. In my English classes I back-to-back this song with Joni Mitchell's "Last time I saw Richard" - the "Blue" album edition (her other renditions are not as pure). I think these songs complement each other well.
by Bill on 12/15/2008 1:45pm I first heard this song in the mid 70's after I became interested in Harry Chapin after Cats in the Cradle came out (another goose bumper). Learning more, I discovered that the nation became aware of Harry after he performed Taxi on The Tonight Show, and the response to the performance was so overwhelming, Harry became the first, and (to my knowledge)only performer ever brought back by Carson the next night due to popular demand. W-O-L-D is yet another classic I listen to often.
by Susan on 12/16/2008 9:27am I've loved "Taxi" since I first heard it in 1972. It's been on my Zen Music Player for years, and every once in a while I think about and listen to it again. The lyrics have been stuck in my head now for days, so I've played it several times today. I found all the comments after I'd thought a long time about what a great story teller Harry Chapin was, and what a lost talent. Harry could really "paint with words" and make us see inside ourselves. At 56, I've found there are some painful truths hiding in there. Harry, we miss you, but you will always be with us when we hear your stories.
by Bill on 12/24/2008 12:23am A remarkable man! Saw him live in the late 70's at the Air Force Academy - seems he left under a cloud; they told him he would never amount to anything. He put Taxi and Sue into context for the cadets-as I recall confirming Bill/Ken/Clyde's views. A tremendous inspiration--standing ovations and encores. Not what you'd expect from that audience, but he made his stories theirs!
by jo on 1/1/2009 7:23am nice lyrics... i can't fully appreciate it as i haven't lived that long. I luv cats and the cradle... my fav. as a kid and i only found out a few years ago much to my dismay it wasn't written by cat (yusuf) stevens but I like lyrics more than the music so i can get used to harry.
by Teresa on 1/6/2009 8:21pm I too have loved this song for years. It sometimes hurts to listen to it. At 50, I have lived long enough to appreciate it. Thanks Harry.
by tom on 1/7/2009 3:39pm beautiful song although I cannot fully relate. I don't live a life of regrets-I take hold and take actions and contol my life, not let my life control me. They had a choice, they made the choice. I would never have put career or other pursuits above true love. Never. But that is just me I guess and it has served me well. Fans should check out the sequel he did of this song. 10 years farther down the road. Do your research, I can't remember the name. Its a nice next chapter to the story.
by H maxx on 1/13/2009 11:03am I have always loved this song. It means so much more now as I have just turned 50 and look back on my dreams and where I am now.... Bot bad but not what I thought either...
by Steve on 1/14/2009 9:59pm The monster inside was addiction, that was tiding him over till.. The deepest lyrics and most moving song I have ever heard, not because of the words but the thought of finding someone you might not want to find. Someone who reveals the life you don't want to see. It's so hard. Blind princess, disease. Harry's words, not mine. A friend lost to time. So far away.
by Gary on 1/21/2009 7:05pm I've listened to this song hundreds of times, and each time I think of a young lady I met in the early 70's who I loved and lost. I'm in my second marriage now to a lady fifteen years younger than I who treats me like gold - just like my lady in the 70's. As a Vietnam Combat Veteran at age 62, this song still moves me like it did almost 40 years ago - God Bless Harry Chapin! We have all had a "Sue" some time in our lives.
by Steve D on 1/22/2009 10:56pm The way I see this song is that they both left for what they thought were better things but neither attained their goals, much the same as the rest of us. I'd always thought the line in the song went "IF we'd both gotten what we'd asked for" instead of "We'd both gotten what we'd asked for". I'd thought that to mean, would they have been happier in their life if they'd acheived their goals after leaving love behind? Reading the lyrics now I believe that they'd both gotten what they'd asked for, in each other but both longed for something else not realizing what they had.
by ASHTON on 1/28/2009 5:30pm SMOKE FAT BLUNTS NIGGUHHH
by Jennifer on 2/6/2009 2:53pm I heard this song all of the time as a kid, as well as other Harry Chapin songs, but I never appreciated the lyrics until I was older. It is quite an amazing song, and as others have assesed, Harry Chapin is a great story teller. It's a shame he died the way the did. He should have been able to live longer, but I guess it was just his time. His songs are timeless and he lives on in his songs.
by plotman on 2/6/2009 2:58pm this is what is great about the internet. I always thought it was me being a sap but look how many people are so effected by this song. It well up every time I hear it. Obviously I am not alone. Cool. I am also 45ish and now I sing it to my daughters who are 2 1/2 and 10 monthts old. It gets me every time. Such a sweet sadness. Of course I chang the last line to "home" from stoned BUT I do "fly so high when I'm stoned. Go Harry!
by Rod on 2/9/2009 5:31pm I was Harry & my Sue was Tammy, mine wasn't a Dodge but a Ford. I was a 'po boy & she a rich Air Force brat. We had the "Summer Love" ala Danny & Sandy in "Grease" that ended when her dad retired & moved the family away. My interpretation of the middle verses is of love that was how a 'po boy won over a rich girl &,though a passionate love, ended unfulfilled & the lingering regret. For me it was 35 yrs ago & still touches my emotions when I remember that summer.
by Mike P on 2/9/2009 8:05pm Harry was a master. Compare this to someone like todays Kanye West who says he's the voice of a generation; "I ain't sayin she's a gold digga, but she ain't goin with no broke nigga.." Yes kanye, brilliant. It's sad to say that you might just be the voice of this generation. Thank god I'm in my 50s and part of Harry's generation.
by Deb b on 2/10/2009 11:49am I found Harry when i was younger. His music has always pushed me to think,even when i did not want to.The song Taxi takes some growing into,as does all his music.A person once told me,"an entity is not dead as long as someone remembers a part of them." Harry is simply teaching/playing somewhere else. Thank-you Harry....
by sonny joe on 2/14/2009 9:42am where have all the women gone?
by mark on 2/25/2009 10:12pm Back then I never caught the words to the bridge in the song. Seeing them now in print even heightens my appreciation of his poetic talent. I suppose a baby is the ideal metaphor for that which is innocent in all of us . The trick is retaining that soul despite lifes many setbacks.
by Dennis on 2/28/2009 11:59am I first heard this song when I was 18 or 19 (I'm 55 now). I was a smart kid, but kind of a rebel, so I had decided not to go to college and was working in a skilled trade. The lyrics had a big effect on me, because I saw my future self looking too much like Harry in the song. I was still young enough to change, though. A few years later, I quit my job and put myself through school, and eventually earned my doctorate (following my inner wild-man wizard, I guess). It was the best thing I ever did.
by Old Joe on 3/4/2009 11:19am Like Mark, 2/25, I had missed the bridge lyrics and was singing the song today and decided to look them up. Nor did I catch that "Harry" was in his thoughts and Sue expressing hers. Awesome! I heard the song and memorized a lot of the lyrics because it was good poetry and story set to music. Still lives!...
by Sandy on 3/11/2009 12:23pm So personal to me. I recently got back together with man I lived with 33 years ago. Odly enuff after we broke up, he was a taxi driver and this is his favorite song ever. He was wrong but thought I was going to end up in big city so this was very personal to him also.
by Frank on 3/11/2009 8:38pm I saw Harry at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, Ohio back in the late 70's. He was late and came running down the aisle, guitar in hand. Put on just a great, intimate show. Taxi, of course was the highlight. I get sentimental when I hear it. The perfect song that describes the wisdom of age and a life well-lived. No regrets.
by Speed on 3/30/2009 8:27pm We miss you Harry !
by by Mike on 4/2/2009 2:56pm Creative and Artistic performer. Every time I hear the song onr can experience being in the taxi with him Harry and Sue. The rain falling, the sound of the windshield wippers,the conversation is so poetic and the lyrics powerful, "You ruined your gown in the rain"
by Louis/Miami on 4/7/2009 10:19am Taxi came out when I was a senior in high school, and I loved it back then when it was played a lot on the radio along with “W.O.L.D.” and “Cat’s in the cradle”. When I bought his greatest hits album I found another great song in “A better place to be”. But Taxi is, after all these years, the only song that I can sing word for word... but now more that ever it leaves my eyes swelled up. I guess it’s that years have just shot by and memories tend to have a saddening effect. In most of us there are always feelings of “if we could have had more time” and the hopes and dreams that were never realized. After all we can thank Harry’s wild man wizardry for his touching stories and reflections of life.
by Wild Man Wizard, James on 4/8/2009 8:23am I drive a 70 mile round trip commute to work each day and every day last week, I played Taxi on repeat from my XM MP3 player the entire time. This song never gets old. I distinctly remember the first time I heard this song on AM radio back in 1972 when I was seven years old. I have been a Harry Chapin fan ever since. Harry inspired me to learn guitar just so I could try to play his music. Today's music isn't nearly as poetic or touching as the 1970s ballads. I have worked hard and played hard, trying never to have regrets. However, I have failed on the last point. I have a "Sue" in my past and I wish I hadn't let her go. But life goes on and I continue to do the best I can with the family that I love. I have learned to obey that wild man wizard that is hiding in me, illuminating my mind. That wizard is my conscience and God put it there. Harry, thanks for capturing some of life's most poignant teaching moments in such a poetic way.
by shari on 4/8/2009 3:17pm My Dad asked me to print off the lyrics to TAXI today for him. Not only did I do that, but I pulled out a Chapin CD & a video from the Midnight Special from my collection. I'm 33 and have been drawn to this song for years. Fantasy & reality are a fine line. It is troubling to know that the perception of -what could have been- controls so many people's lives. I've seen how it has damaged my Dad and am trying to keep it from destroying me too. Like Cat's in the Cradle.
by shari on 4/8/2009 3:27pm I would just like to add that this song perhaps is also about getting "closure."
by Shane on 4/14/2009 6:58pm I've always loved this song. Such a great song about the meaning of life and of love. One of the truly great songs to come out of the early seventies--or for that matter, from any time period.
by Barnacle Bill on 4/21/2009 12:02pm I was packing to come home from Active Duty the week I first heard this song in late May of 1972. I remember listening in stunned disbelief, shocked at the revelations it was putting me through. Two years later I was fortunate enough to see Chapin in person with a fan whose enthusiasm equalled my own. I rate him up there with Dylan and maybe one or two others. This song and one other by him ("Changes") turned my entire life around. No one else I ever heard could put words together like this man. And this song's story was so like my own; no one will ever know. Indeed his "time ran out" far too soon. Where are genuises like him now? Or would they even be appreciated now? I just wonder.
by Priscilla on 5/4/2009 9:53pm I'm enjoying reading this discussion (as I LOVE this song,) and am wondering (we'll probably never know) if "Sue" went on to live her dream? He was driving past "the gate a fine-trimmed lawn." Plus, she gave him $20.00. Was she well off? Or, did she just quickly want to get out of the cab and not wait for change? (Too painful for her?) Sad song.
by craig on 5/11/2009 9:06pm priscilla, the musings about sue's life after harry reminds me of the eagle's:lying eyes (...every port of refuge has its price)
by Susie on 5/30/2009 8:10pm I wouldn't say that "too little smiles" is a flaw, as per Jürgen on 12/14/2008, as I think it is the sort of awkward and nostalgic thing that one might say in those circumstances.
by Mel on 6/3/2009 11:18am I remember listening to this song in high school and thinking how sad it was to lose love.When I was 43 I met a guy and we both heard this while talking on the phone, found out it was our favorite and binded us as soul mates! Love you Steve!
by Gina on 6/10/2009 2:28pm I was packing up from college, spring, '72, when this song was poplular...it was rainy in Lincoln...and everytime I hear or play this song I am right back there. Today, a rainy spring day, it came on TrueOldies and I thought, "what is she singing?" and I googled them and here I am. Your comments blew me away. Glad I'm in good company. Peace, Harry.
by Speed on 6/18/2009 7:59pm My "Sue" was named Julie. All but one of my close friends has forgotten her name with all their lives brought them. I will NEVER (like all of you) forget the ache in my heart. I know she would hate to know it, but I still have that fantasy in my mind, heart and soul. Julie, just CALL and leave a message. I WILL call you back !
by Dave on 7/2/2009 12:47am This was always one of my favortie Harry Chapin songs, and I can sing Greatest Stories Live by heart, but it really came around full circle with the release of Taxi, the Sequel. How many games do we play and how many masks do we make. Rest in Peace Harry
by Cathy on 7/7/2009 4:59pm This has always been my favorite song, But I've yet to understand the part that she is singing, in the middle of it.
by Susan on 7/22/2009 3:03pm This is the most haunting, poignant song I've ever known. I first heard it in college {am now 56} & one of the reasons my then boyfriend & I fell in love was because we both loved this song. We married in 1972. Sadly, the marriage didn't last, but every time I hear "taxi", I am thrown back into that achingly simple time when the future held only promise...
by Gordon on 7/26/2009 11:54am This song is the summary of human emotion. A grand wrapper such as risen apes not fallen angels.
by Lover of Mermaids on 7/28/2009 1:14pm Currently, I am 44. I knew "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin and that was it. Then I met a guy much younger than I who knew tons of 70's music an introduced me to all of Harry's songs. This song and the sequel just blew me away. I sing it all the time. I can listen to Harry sing every day without batting an eyelash. I also cry a lot over that really young guy.
by Kathy on 8/4/2009 4:41pm I'm 52, a Presbyterian minister, and a deep lover of all poetry. I used to listen to this song as I was stalling instead of studying for algebra tests in the tenth grade. That spooky, tenor/mezzo soprano part in the middle always grabbed me hard, and I had to see it printed before I could figure out the words. Just this day, I'm back from doing yet another funeral. Chapin took on true vulnerability in those four lines, because he let go of all machismo and even expressed his truth in a feminine way. Form equals function, because the vocal pitch matches his stoned out state. (I have also spent many years as an English teacher). Getting stoned is a great way to forget about death; only, there's that paranoid "Oh my God, I'm alone on the ceiling" experience...Hey, I'm a seventies child. I went to one or two seventies parties.
by chandler on 8/19/2009 6:10pm I fell in love with this song when i was 7 because i thought it sounded so meaningful, now that i am 16 and i know the meaning i love it even more.
by The Man in the Black Hat on 9/2/2009 7:00am I heard this son way back in the 70's I guess it was, and didn't think about it for years. Then I heard it again on the way home from work one day, and dammed if it didn't bring back memories or my own "sue." Whose real name was Suzanne, BTW. I lost her, through no fault of hers. I'm not sorry for what I found, I love my wife dearly, but you can't help but wonder... What if?
by Mark on 10/10/2009 5:16pm Such an incredible song - I can't get enough of it. Are you listening "Sue"?
by Chris on 10/22/2009 4:39pm I am 62 years old and remember when this song was released in the early '70's. I feel fortunate that I am still around to hear and sing these beautiful lyrics (I do karaoke). I sing it quite often and whenever I get the chance. God bless you, Harry.
by Tim Park on 10/27/2009 9:23am Can you imagine making such an impact on the world that almost 30 years after your gone, people other than your kids remember what you said or sang! Gone but not forgotten Harry!
by Paul on 10/28/2009 9:43pm This song gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. It is strange how you never know. I guess i haven't gotten exactly what I asked for, but things aren't bad either. Sure would like to bump into "Sue".
by Doc Crash on 11/8/2009 7:54pm A man before and after his time.His hits will go on forever
by Patrick on 11/13/2009 6:38pm A true classic from a great musical era....songs that reflect special moments in time!
by Nora on 11/15/2009 5:19am Don't think this was mentioned in the comments, but just checked Wikipedia for more info on the song. The four lines sung in falsetto are actually from a Sylvia Plath poem. Like so many others, this song was deeply moving to me, even at 17. Yet more so now, for bittersweet reasons.
by Steve on 11/19/2009 6:41pm I'm 50 now and have not heard this song since the 70's. Now I think I've lived enough to appreciate it. Great song.
by Macroheart1 on 11/20/2009 7:04pm Saw Harry sing this song and others live in Tahoe a few weeks before he was killed. He was into feeding the homeless and sold and signed products for donations to his charity. He gave my wife a kiss on the cheek for a donation. I think anybody working for a corporation and sacrafices family relationships can feel this song...not really living your dream. But just remember as Fritz Perils said, "Its never too late to have a happy childhood." So don't dream of Sue, go and find her, you don't have to own her to live the dream!!!

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