When I was a little boy, my father owned only one Harry Chapin album. No, it wasn\u2019t Verities And Balderdash<\/i>, the album that brought us \u201cCats In The Cradle.\u201d Instead, it was Dance Band On The Titanic<\/i>, Chapin\u2019s seventh studio album (and only studio set that was a double album). For some reason, I never got past listening to side one. Couldn\u2019t explain it then, can\u2019t explain it now.<\/p>\n
I never did get the chance to ask Dad why this was the album he chose to put in his collection. After all, it spawned no radio hits and was seen as a commercial failure. But, after nearly 50 years of listening to this album on and off, I get it… I finally<\/i><\/b> get it.<\/p>\n
For his seventh studio effort, it\u2019s almost as if Chapin finally said to hell with radio airplay and hit singles, and focused solely on writing the best, most thoughtful songs he could. It\u2019s an album filled with a lot of introspection and disappointment in what life became\u2014the subject of the songs on what was quite possibly Chapin\u2019s best album.<\/p>\n
Long before James Cameron came up with the idea for his record-breaking film, the title track from this disc captured life on the ill-fated ship as a member of the on-board band. It\u2019s surprisingly catchy, and is a perfect way to open up the two-record set.<\/p>\n
From there, Chapin\u2019s songs mostly capture individuals facing the loss of ideals and long-held beliefs (some of which might not be proper), capturing a melancholia that, while always somewhat present in Chapin\u2019s work, never hit with such force. From going through self-discovery when a partner separates to chase and discover fame (\u201cWhy Should People Stay The Same\u201d) to a lothario getting slapped in the face when his wife turns the tables on him by playing his own game (\u201cMy Old Lady\u201d), from young lovers growing apart through the passage of life (\u201cWe Grew Up A Little Bit\u201d) to a man partnered with a woman of experience wondering if he will become a faint memory like her previous partner (\u201cI Wonder What Happened To Him\u201d), Chapin takes the listener on some difficult journeys which are cushioned by\u00a0 powerful music.<\/p>\n
No, Dance Band On The Titanic<\/i> is not an easy listen. But, in many ways, it\u2019s the culmination of everything that Chapin had been through in five short years. From building his name up and fine-tuning his craft to the sudden fame of \u201cCats In The Cradle\u201d and the sudden drop in chart performance, Chapin seemed to see himself as a relic in his mid-thirties. As he sang on the 14-minute epic that closes the set \u201cThere Only Was One Choice\u201d: \u201cI am the aging jester who won\u2019t gracefully retire \/ A clumsy clown without a net caught staggering on the high wire.\u201d This is Chapin laid emotionally naked\u2014and, as difficult as it might be to listen to some of these tales, they are essential.<\/p>\n
Not everything is doom and gloom, though. \u201cBluesman\u201d tells the tale of a young up-and-coming guitarist who searches out a purveyor of the true blues, begging to learn the craft from the true master. And, \u201cI Do It For You, Jane\u201d continues Chapin’s streak of love stories put to music.<\/p>\n
Sadly, Dance Band On The Titanic<\/i> is seen by many as a flop, since it wasn\u2019t a commercial juggernaut. It remains one of the few albums of Chapin\u2019s not readily available on CD (though it was re-released for a short time). But it often feels like everything Chapin ever did was leading him up to this album. You can tell that he poured his entire being into its creation\u2014and, for that, we should be thankful. Dance Band On The Titanic<\/i> is a true masterpiece that is begging to be re-discovered. If you\u2019re able to locate a copy, book your voyage on this one without delay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6164],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-47092","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-harry-chapin","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47092"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}