"What Made America Famous?" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song was included on his 1974 album, Verities & Balderdash. It has also been included on numerous posthumous compilation albums. The song inspired Chapin to write the award nominated Broadway musical, The Night That Made America Famous.[1]
| "What Made America Famous?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Harry Chapin | ||||
| from the album Verities & Balderdash | ||||
| B-side | "Mono" | |||
| Released | August 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 6:43 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Harry Chapin | |||
| Producer(s) | Paul Leka | |||
| Harry Chapin singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editThe song shows a man, his girlfriend, and kids living in a rundown home. Eventually, a house fire starts, and they need rescue. It is continually asked in the song if anybody cares. It ends with the firefighters waiting to respond to "let them sweat a little", and the plumber ends up saving everyone in the home. They spend the night in the plumber's home and realize that heroes are people who you'd never suspect, or ever know.[2]
Inspiration
editThe song was inspired when Chapin himself lived in Point Lookout in Long Island during the 1960s. There was a suspicious fire in a low-income residence. Although it is unknown how the actual firefighters responded, he imagined that they responded like in the song.[3]
Chapin also said, ""What Made America Famous", basically comes out of a thing where my wife was saying 'You should write a song about a volunteer fire department and name it "Answering the Call".' Now, I took it to a whole other place, but I'm a believer in recognizing good ideas. My wife happens to be a fantastic poet and I've been very lucky to have her with me."[4]
Reception
editCash Box said that "Harry's vocals are as dramatically sensitive as ever and the music arrangement perfectly fits in making this a long, but totally captivating musical experience."[5] Record World said it was a masterpiece that "directly addresses our country's splintered psyche"[6]
Charts
editWeekly charts
edit| Chart (1974–1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Cash Box Top 100[7] | 87 |
References
edit- ^ "Harry Chapin Wiki".
- ^ "Song lyrics".
- ^ "Behind the song: What Made America Famous?".
- ^ Bruce Pollock. "Harry Chapin". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 15, 1974. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. June 15, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Cashbox, 1970-1979" (PDF).