This may not seem like a sad song to many people, but it is to me for personal reasons. My father is usually very busy. He is a full time worker, and owns a medical sales company calls Midwest Med Specialities. He takes the majority of sales calls himself, despire running the business. He even connected the house phone to the work line to make orders for people who have special siutations and need medical products right away, so he is basically on duty even when his business is closed. He plays tennis a lot, something I cannot do due to my visual inconvinience, and he likes driving to a lot of towns, something I do not do because of severe motion sickness.
When he is at home, he likes to relax because he has a lot of stress from my mother, because she is not well. That combined with my brothers' scholastic activities, my father and I have very, very little time to do much of anything together, although I know it can't be helped. So I can emphasize with this song so well because of its theme: a son growing up who doesn't have much access to quality time with his father. Don't get him wrong; he tries to do things when he can, but he can rarely.
Cats 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 talkin' '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 on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
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 dimmed
And 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 on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Well, he came home 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 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 on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
I've long since retired, 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 can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have 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 on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
