Cats in the Cradle?

Question

The original was written by Harry & Sandy Chapin, performed in 1974 by Harry Chapin, correct?

How can I find what label published it?

I'm doing a project on this song.
I know it's about a father having little time for his son. But is it also agreed that it concerns problems with society as a whole? Like the sacrafiecs people make for their job, and how money & material objects seem to be more important than ones family.

Answer 1

Cats in the Cradle," is a folk rock song by American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. It appeared on Chapin's 1974 album Verities & Balderdash.

It was written by Harry's wife Sandy, a poet and writer, long before the birth of their son Joshua. When Sandy showed it to Harry, he had only casual interest. After Joshua's birth, Harry realized just how much the song meant to him and, after reworking the song, eventually recorded it. The song became the best known of Harry's work and a staple for folk rock music.

The story
The song is told in first person, and relates the story of a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son repeatedly asks him to join in childhood activities, the father always responds with little more than vague promises of future quality time. Meanwhile, the son grows up loving and admiring his father but decides to be 'like him' in that he will get on with his own life. This is seen in the third verse where the father asks the son to sit for a while but the son asks for the car keys instead. The son is now starting to become like his father in the sense that he won't have much time to spend with his father. This final realization dawns on the father in the final verse.

Years pass and the lonely, aging father finally desires to spend time with his child. Hoping to make up for lost time, he reaches out to him. The son however has grown up and begun his own life; he warmly responds that he is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with (or even talk to) his father. Like his father once had, the son promises that someday in the future they will spend time together. The last verses end with the lines "I'd love to dad if I could find the time/You see my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu/But it's sure nice talking to you, dad … And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me/He'd grown up just like me/My boy was just like me …". This indicates that, as the father sadly realizes, the son has taken after the father in that he has become too occupied with his own work to spend time with his father, who now has the time for him.


Covers and use in popular culture
The Capitol Steps made a parody of this song called "Aristocrats from the Cradle". It was recorded on their album "Springtime for Liberals".
The song has since been recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Finn Kalvik, Ugly Kid Joe, and Mandy Patinkin. More recently, rapper DMC released a song and video in 2006, entitled "Just Like Me," which uses guitar samples and the chorus from "Cat's in the Cradle," with the chorus sung by Sarah McLachlan. The video gives credit and thanks to Harry Chapin and the Chapin Family at the end.
The Ugly Kid Joe cover of the song is often mistaken for a Guns N' Roses or a Skid Row cover of the song. Neither band has ever recorded this song and it has often been mislabeled as such on Limewire and other downloading programs. This version peaked at #7 on the UK singles chart.
Many people mistakenly believe the song to be the work of artist Cat Stevens, and a mistitled MP3 version is widely circulated on the internet. Jack Black contributed to this confusion, playing part of the song in a Saturday Night Live sketch where Black's character claimed the song was by Yusuf Islam, a.k.a. Cat Stevens. There are no known, verifiable recordings of Cat Stevens performing the song however, and a Cat Stevens fan web site assures readers that Stevens has never performed the song, "not live, not in the studio, and not even privately."[citation needed]
Singer Bob Rivers wrote a parody of the song, entitled "Cats In The Kettle", which plays with the stereotype that Chinese restaurants in America use cat meat to pad out their food. As with the erroneous attributions of Chapin's song to Stevens, this parody has been attributed incorrectly to "Weird Al" Yankovic - a source of irritation to Yankovic, who eschews the use of racist humor.
The song was used as the music bed for a Northern Ireland Office anti-terrorism advertising campaign in the late 1980s.
In the end of the Family Guy episode The Son Also Draws, the trees sing the song when Peter hugs Chris.
At the end of the Scrubs, season 4 episode "My Unicorn" when the character Murray (played by Matthew Perry) admits to his dad (who isn't actually his biological father) that he loves him. The dad (played by Perry's father John Bennett Perry) then proceeds to sing the song "Cat's in the Cradle" before Murray tells him not to.
In The Simpsons episode "Saturdays of Thunder", Homer hears the song when the National Fatherhood Institute puts him on hold. Also, in the episode "Bart's Girlfriend", Homer sings part of the chorus after watching Bart grow increasingly infatuated with Jessica Lovejoy.
In the 'Til Death episode "I Heart Woodcocks" the song plays when Eddie puts Jeff's tape on his car stereo, though the captioning states the song is 'Cat Steven's Cat's in the Cradle."
In the Canadian television series, "Brothers By Choice" (1986), Max and Laura Williams sing the song at the end of episode 4.
In the 2007 movie Shrek the Third, Donkey sings the chorus line (to Shrek's irritation) when Shrek learns that he is going to be a father.
The Boogeyman sang a verse from the song to Vince McMahon on WWE Monday Night Raw on August 13, 2007.

Lyrics

Artist: Harry Chapin
Song: Cat's In The Cradle


My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"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?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
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.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Answer 2

Look on Amazon for labels:
LP Record
Label: Elektra
ASIN: B000LZ3D8U