Harry Forster Chapin: Musician, Song Writer, Film Editor and Political

In the short thirty-nine years of the life-time of Harry Forster Chapin (1942-1981), he man termd to distinguish himself as a creative champ in multiple fields, ultimately leaving a distinct lucre on this world, though he received only moderate globe recognition. Professionally, he was a musical performer and songwriter, a film editor, and a political activist and lobbyist, able to reach remarkable heights in all three fields. In the field of music, Chapin rose to stardom as a rock and roll performer and songwriter during the 1970s, introducing the world to a cutting style of music he created and popularized, the fiction-song. Within this new framework, Chapin was able to lend oneself his interest and proficiency in poetry to create song lyrics which told the story of a character or group of characters. He was able to cast wonderfully powerful tales of the lives of his characters in a few short stanzas, applying some(prenominal) traditional story-line techniques a rising act ion which lead to a climax, followed by a falling action which usually revealed an unexpected twist, offering a recognizable message in the last few lyrics of the song. The subjects of these songs were generally found on Chapins real life experiences and moods, and in this sense, he was able to crush out more honestly the feeling associated with the stories. Furthermore, Chapin went a step further by adding music to his stories, accentuating the changes in tone of the stories with musical accompaniments. His musical style contained some folk, rock and roll, jazz and blues elements, revealing his diverse musical downplay and familiarity with a variety of styles. The result was a remarkably popular style, which give Chapin the ability to generate a strong connection to his audience during... ...o Gardner, some other major milestone taking place around 1976, with the completion of by chance his most comprehensive piece, an autobiographical song called There Only Was genius Cho ice. In it, Chapin mysteriously foretold of his tragic death at a young age When I started this song I was still thirty-three.The age that Mozart died and Sweet Jesus was set free, Keats and Shelly, too soon finished, Charlie Parker would beAnd I fanaticized a tragedy be soon curtailing me.He also include in the song, the lyrics which have come to define his life more than all otherInexperience - it once accursed me, but your youth is no handicap, its what makes you thirsty. (From Danceband on the Titanic 1977)BibliographyCoan, Peter M. Taxi The Harry Chapin Story. New York sing Publishing Group. C. 1990.Http//www.littlejason.com/chapin/longbio.html