1972 Songs: Taxi
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86855)
United States
July 19, 2022 11:03am CST
Fair warning: this won’t be the only long song in this list of songs that’s 50 years old now. (Don’t worry, “In-a-Godda-da-Vida” was 1968. 
) The song that launched the career, cut way too short, is our song from 1972.
Taxi - Harry Chapin
Nowadays everything is scripted and choreographed…even the “reality shows.” Talk shows included. Everybody knows what’s going to happen before it does.
Well, back in ‘72 it wasn’t that choreographed. For whatever reason, Harry Chapin was a guest on Carson’s show (that’s The Tonight Show, for you kids who barely remember Jay Leno hosting it ). He sang this nearly seven-minute song. NBC was so overwhelmed with calls and telegrams that Chapin was back on Carson the next night, doing the song again. That had never happened before. (And the way things are today, it probably will never happen again.)
Clare MacIntyre was a socialite. Her father was a politician and a businessman. She hooked up with Harry Chapin one summer, and the two dated for a couple of years. Mr. MacIntyre wasn’t impressed with Chapin and made him take an aptitude test (Harry could NOT possibly have loved this woman enough to put up with that) and found out Chapin was quite intelligent despite the “folkie” nature of his life.
Well, as time went on, Chapin was notified on a Friday that he’d start driving a cab on Monday around New York City. He spent all weekend wondering about his old girlfriend and what would ever happen if, by chance, she got a ride in his cab.
As fate would have it, as brother Tom Chapin later explained, Harry got two job offers over the weekend, “he took them both,” and never drove the cab.
Clare McIntyre-Ross passed away in 2016, better known as “Sue” from this song than as the daughter of a former Scarsdale mayor and Eastern Airlines CEO. Harry lost his life to either a heart attack or a fiery car wreck (the coroner couldn’t tell which came first) in July 1980 at the age of 38.
Oh, what a legacy he left us. Fly high and get stoned, Harry.
Taxi
Written by Harry Chapin
Recorded by Harry Chapin
From Heads and Tales, 1972
(Today’s 1982 song: “Who Can It Be Now?”)
I needed one more fare to make my night:
) The song that launched the career, cut way too short, is our song from 1972.
Taxi - Harry Chapin
Nowadays everything is scripted and choreographed…even the “reality shows.” Talk shows included. Everybody knows what’s going to happen before it does.
Well, back in ‘72 it wasn’t that choreographed. For whatever reason, Harry Chapin was a guest on Carson’s show (that’s The Tonight Show, for you kids who barely remember Jay Leno hosting it ). He sang this nearly seven-minute song. NBC was so overwhelmed with calls and telegrams that Chapin was back on Carson the next night, doing the song again. That had never happened before. (And the way things are today, it probably will never happen again.)
Clare MacIntyre was a socialite. Her father was a politician and a businessman. She hooked up with Harry Chapin one summer, and the two dated for a couple of years. Mr. MacIntyre wasn’t impressed with Chapin and made him take an aptitude test (Harry could NOT possibly have loved this woman enough to put up with that) and found out Chapin was quite intelligent despite the “folkie” nature of his life.
Well, as time went on, Chapin was notified on a Friday that he’d start driving a cab on Monday around New York City. He spent all weekend wondering about his old girlfriend and what would ever happen if, by chance, she got a ride in his cab.
As fate would have it, as brother Tom Chapin later explained, Harry got two job offers over the weekend, “he took them both,” and never drove the cab.
Clare McIntyre-Ross passed away in 2016, better known as “Sue” from this song than as the daughter of a former Scarsdale mayor and Eastern Airlines CEO. Harry lost his life to either a heart attack or a fiery car wreck (the coroner couldn’t tell which came first) in July 1980 at the age of 38.
Oh, what a legacy he left us. Fly high and get stoned, Harry.
Taxi
Written by Harry Chapin
Recorded by Harry Chapin
From Heads and Tales, 1972
(Today’s 1982 song: “Who Can It Be Now?”)
I needed one more fare to make my night:
RewardsTop suggestions for Harry Chapin taxiHarry ChapinFree SongsHarry ChapinSongsHarry ChapinSings TaxiTop suggestions for Harry Chapin taxiHarry Chapin TaxiOriginalHarry ChapinConcerts 1981Harry ChapinAuto AccidentHarry ChapinPlaylistHarry ChapinAlbumsH
7 people like this
7 responses
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
20 Jul 22
The description of the incident said that Chapin suddenly put on his flashers and slowed down in traffic, indicating that he may have been having issues before his car was hit.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98106)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Jul 22
I know the song and the singer but somehow this song depresses me
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
24 Jul 22
It’s a tale of lost love, told in a depressing manner. “She’s acting happy inside her handsome home” is indicative of the woman’s misery in her life.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
25 Jul 22
@RasmaSandra — especially if his name had been Harry!
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98106)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
24 Jul 22
@FourWalls sort of like when I finished my journey from Latvia and arrived in Florida and got into the back of a taxi and was quietly blubbering because of all I had left behind and all that was now changing If the taxi driver had turned out to be an old friend I probably would have become hysterical
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
20 Jul 22
This is such a rich song. Always loved it.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51838)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
20 Jul 22
@FourWalls Yes, I definitely see the action when I hear it.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
20 Jul 22
I completely agree with you. A song like this needs no video because it’s written so visually and beautifully.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
20 Jul 22
@rebelann — good idea. That song probably wouldn’t make the list of favorites.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
19 Jul 22
Wrong year, but just wait until 2028!!!
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
19 Jul 22
Not my fault. You’re the one who doesn’t know it!!!! 
1 person likes this
@NJChicaa (127172)
• United States
19 Jul 22
@FourWalls It is from 5 years before I was even born! 
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222726)
• United States
20 Jul 22
Huh! I don't know this one. I'm surprised.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
20 Jul 22
With a few notable exceptions (like Elton John songs), the long tunes didn’t get a lot of AM radio airplay.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86855)
• United States
20 Jul 22
He was such an amazing songwriter; and, as I’ve frequently said, so good in concert (which you’d never expect from a folkie sitting on a stool).
1 person likes this
