>I've always been intrigued by the song The Mayor of Candor and among other
>things, the way Harry spoke these lines. The crackly sound of his voice
>really captures the irony of the meaning of these words in the story. This
>line always gives me the chills.

>Although this is one of my favorite Harry Chapin songs, one thing has
>always bothered me about it: the chorus seems to give away the ending of
>the song. This is especially problematic since the protagonist of the story
>says that "what happened next, my friend, a prophet could not tell." (If
>he had been listening to the chorus from the very beginning, he would have
>been forewarned.)

In various songs, Harry uses a very interesting technique that I've always loved. 
Not all of his songs even have a chorus at all (Sniper, Only Was One Choice,
Better Place etc.) But sometimes in the ones that do, he purposely gives
us a catchy phrase that make no sense. That is, until the story is resolved.
Then the chorus that was just a snappy little bridge, ties the whole story
together.

Look at the chorus from Mr. Tanner: "Music was his life, it was not his 
livelihood". We sit through that line twice before it takes on any meaning at
the end of the song.The dry cleaner's incredible talant was for his
personal joy.  His being Paverati was everyone elses dream for him, not his.
The chorus, though sung for the third time, makes you go "ah, now I get it!"

Cat's in the Cradle for that matter. "the cat's in the cradle and a silver
spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon" At the end of the song, when
"it occurs" to him, the fractured nursery rhyme is the tragedy of the
unattentive father. It was just a catchy verse the first three times through. Now it's
evidence that he can't even acurately quote Mother Goose.

I've always agreed with you about Mayor of Candor. But honestly, I was 
surprised to learn that his girlfriend was his sister. This in spite of the
other land mines Harry layed for us; the affair between the mother and the
mayor; and the line, "you know I love you, because you're so much like him".

My agreement is this. When we hear the chorus for the last time, unlike
Mr. Tanner and alike, it doesn't quite tie things up. The revelation from
the mayor is the real zinger. Unless Candor is in Arkansas, we should be glad that
the mayor took steps to prevent these love struck sibbling from mating.

In that way, it works like a finely told joke. Harry is doing like a
master magician. He keeps you focused on the wrong conflict. And he does so
brilliantly. Every time we hear the chorus, we're wondering (even though
we don't yet understand the "take her off across the water" line) why has
this evil mayor done this evil act? Boy I hope Harry tells us. We're left to
assume that the mayor has no intentions any purer than; farm boys aren't worthy
of his daughter. Unless you're more astute than I, you took your eye off
the ball, and were cold cocked by the "where do you think you came from"
line.

I wonder if the chorus really revealed so much too early after all.

Brian