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"When in doubt, Do Something."    - Harry Chapin

Laugh Man
by Harry Chapin

Did you ever hear the one about...

Oh, God I love myself
When i've got it on
i know I'll live forever babe
All my fears are gone

Then suddenly I'm dying
They turned the laugh track off
I'm drowning in the silence
Crucified by coughs

Oh, I am the laugh man
Half clown and half man
Half out and half in, oh mister can't you see?
I'm s'posed to leave you laughing, so why don't you laugh at me?

I started out my starvin'
Desperate for money
My belly crackin' dirty jokes
That did not come out funny
My neck stuck out so far
Like a gawky giraffe
Screamin' on a guillotine
"Come on, sucker, laugh!"

I am the guy who always catches the pie
I specialize in pratfalls
I am the goon who flashes the moon
A mouse in a house of catcalls

I'm your jester your juggler
Your joker your friend
I'm nothing more or less
Than a horse's nether end!

My ego is a bubble
That I realize just broke
And alone without a microphone
My real life's a joke

Did you ever hear the one about...

The Latest Release

Sniper & Other Love Songs In 1972, Harry released Sniper & Other Love Songs. Thirty years would pass before the album would ever reach the CD format. Sniper was finally re-released in June, 2002. Originally given a working title of Sweet City Suite, the album tells the story of various characters one might run into in a city. The album features the original studio versions of Chapin classics "A Better Place to Be" and "Circle." But perhaps more importantly (as those songs are already well-distributed on compilation CDs), the album features seemingly lost Chapin stories, including "And the Baby Never Cries," "Burning Herself," "Barefoot Boy," and "Woman Child." Sniper is for the seasoned Chapin fan. New fans would do better to check out Greatest Stories Live. But for Chapin fans who have reached the level of the Dance Band on the Titanic album, this is the next step. Slightly over-produced and having a little of the "forced" feel that some of Harry's studio albums possess, this album does not capture the powerfully live Harry Chapin. Nonetheless, it captures Harry's great iconoclastic songwriting--Harry takes the story song to new heights here. But the album works best for those ready for it; don't buy it until you are ready to appreciate it!