While Harry Chapin died on July 16, 1981, tonight marked the annual memorial/tribute concert at Long Island's Eisenhower Park, at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Stage. It was on his way to perform at that venue that Harry died (in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway), and my personal connection to that night is that my parents were there, waiting for Harry to show (I was left home, was 11 at the time and remember my parents arriving home in shock).
Harry Chapin sang to us about life, in all its glory, the ups and the downs. I often think of him, and his music. A lot like another teacher of mine, Rav Shlomo Carlebach , Harry was almost too good of a person, setting a standard that very few of us could (or should) match. As his wife said: "Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations and 82 charities. Harry wasn't interested in saving money. He always said, 'Money is for people,' so he gave it away." Most of us are lucky if we give a little charity from time to time. Harry was driven to save the world.
It is said by many that his work led to the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977.
It is so painful to think how much Harry would have accomplished had he lived longer. I am also deeply humbled knowing that Harry Chapin died when he was 39 years old. I am now 38.
May we be blessed to have a fraction of the energy and impact Harry had during his way too short life. He was a Shooting Star (see below). We miss him.
Shooting Star Lyrics
Artist: Harry Chapin (Buy Harry Chapin CDs)
He was crazy of course
From the first she must have known it
But still she went on with him
And she never once had shown it
And she took him off the street
And she dried his tears of grieving
She listened to his visions
She believed in his believe-ins
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
He was dancing to some music
No one else had ever heard
He'd speak in unknown languages
She would translate every word
And then when the world was laughing
At his castles in the sky
She'd hold him in her body
Till he once again could fly
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Well, she gave him a daughter
And she gave him a son
She was a mother, and a wife,
And a lover when the day was done
He was too far gone for giving love
What he offered in its stead
Was the knowledge she was the only thing
That was not in his head
He took off East one morning
Towards the rising sun's red glow
She knew he was going nowhere
But of course she let him go
And as she stood and watched him dwindle
Much too empty to be sad
He reappeared beside her saying,
"You're all I've ever had"
Oh, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy
Holy
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