I have always been fond of the song Cats in the cradle and when it was released by Ugly Kid Joe back in the 90’s somewhere, I was one of the many people who thought it was a Cat Stevens original.
I was corrected from this mistake when I went to an exhibition somewhere in Toowoomba and there was an art work inspired by Harry Chapin, the actual original singer of Cats in the cradle. This information somehow fed my soul with satisfaction and then questions. Why does everyone insists that this song was sung by Cat Stevens???
Mmmm intriguing.
I was reminded of this quirky conundrum the other day when at the garden a radio was playing and cats in the cradle came on. Everyone that was present thought that Cat Stevens was the original singer!!! I quietly corrected everyone by declaring that it was indeed Harry Chapin.
Here is the original
So, why is this a common error that people make? Was it because they are both from the same decade and had a song with a similar theme? This is Cat Stevens AKA Yusuf Islam singing about a Father and Son.
I guess it’s just one of those things that muddle people’s heads and now here I am some smarty bum bringing correction to the masses. (Not really masses as I don’t have that many followers). Nevertheless, I hope you are all well informed and when you hear someone innocently make this mistake you can bring correction!!!
Tamar's art lounge 
Holy cow, that crowd must be a bit younger; Stevens and Chapin were stars in the 70s. Loved Harry’s bittersweet sad song…:When you comin’ home son?’ “Dad, I don’t know when…but we’ll get together then,Dad, you know we’ll have a good time then…’
“My boy was JUST LIKE ME.’ UGH!
Terrible to think of all the time we couldn’t be ‘there’ for our kids, when they were small…then practically in the dark of night, they’re all grown-up, and can’t find much time to be with us….That was such a stark song…it’s words are etched in my brain to this day. Thanks for the nice post and the little quiet moment I got to re-travel a path I walked 40 years ago, in my memory, of course…
You would be so amazed how many people do get it wrong. I wonder if also that CAT is repeated. Example Lady Ga Ga did not sing Radio Ga Ga
Bravo! Thanks for clarifying those issues. Sometimes folks wrongly ascribe a title or label to the wrong thing. Keep up the great work.
thank you 🙂
Harry Chapin made great music… I have a few of his records… on vinyl and cd! 😉
He wrote some great music
Thank you for your clarification, My wife swore it was Cat Stevens who sang “Cats in The Cradle”
I also think it must be the word “Cats” in the song and the name that confuses people, and of course the similarity in their musical styles.
Thanks for the info….My wife says “thousands need reeducation about this…”
Z
BTW, I always knew it was H.C who sang this song….one of rare instances I am right when it comes to betting against my wife…
🙂
I’m so glad for clearing that up for you 🙂
I think you might be right about the cat word
My husband always say’s I’m right about everything hahaha
The first time I heard both the original and the Ugly Kid Joe cover was on the radio sometime in the early 90’s — back to back. The DJ first played the UKJ cover (which I loved immediately, and still do) and then the original. The DJ claimed the original was a relatively little known song by Cat Stevens! But when I heard the song, I was pretty sure that the voice was not Cat Steven’s. Still, for the next few months I diligently searched for the tapes (they were cassette tapes back then) in every major music store I could find. I got hold of the UKG album without a problem, but I couldn’t find the CS version anywhere. Most store owners claimed never to have heard of it. There were one or two who showed me one from a different artiste (which must have been Harry Chapin) but since I believed the DJ, i insisted it be Cat Stevens. But, of course, I have since learnt the truth a long time ago. Radio DJ’s can be wrong about the music they’re playing — at least, here in Singapore. The reason I’m posting this is because I thought that mistake was our own Singaporean boo-boo. It surprises me that after that experience of mine more than twenty years ago, the misattribution still perists even in the West.
In 1977 Cat Steven’s released an Album called Cat’s Cradle that did NOT contain the song “Cat’s in the Cradle” but did have “Matthew and Son.” Another similar theme.
wow, possibly why people get confused about it….thanks for the added info 🙂
Cat Stevens 100% wrote AND sang the original in my reality as I’ve been a lifelong fan since watching Harold and Maude years ago. I know of his album “Cat’s Cradle” which is fascinating as in my timeline that was never an album title and I am well aware of the reality now with Harry, but as the Mandela effect demonstrates, not all is as it seems. This is just one of thousands of effects though in all areas of culture, history, geography, anatomy, etc.
I know when I was a kid in the 90s, there was a television commercial for one of those CD collections, you know sounds of the 70s or something, and when they said Cat Stevens, this sing was playing in the background, it may have caused more than a little confusion for Alot of the population….
I know it did for me.
wow, that could contribute to the confusion
It will always be a Cat Stevens “greatest hits” to me.
a great song 🙂
I have no clue where this misunderstanding started, but I can tell you why I once thought Cat Stevens sang the song. I used to hear this song on the radio all the time and I decided to download it, This was probably 15 years ago, but all the most shared versions were the “Cat Stevens version”. I now know that it’s Ugly Kid Joe’s version I downloaded, but I guess this kind of shares a story with how Tribal Ink’s song “Refugee” was shared as a Linkin Park song on torrent download sites.