Mr. Tanner(Live; 1975) - Harry Chapin

Mr. Tanner (Live|1975) - Harry Chapin
Mister Tanner was a cleaner from
A town in the midwest
And of all the cleaning shops around
He'd made his the best
But he also was a baritone who sang
While hanging clothes
He practiced scales while pressing tails
And sang at local shows
His friends and neighbors praised the voice
That poured out from his throat
They said that he should use his gift instead
Of cleaning coats
But music was his life it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and
It made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and
He sang from his soul
He did not know how well he sang;
It just made him whole
His friends kept working on him
To try music out full time
A big debut and rave reviews
A great career to climb
Finally they got to him he would take the fling
A concert agent in New York
Agreed to have him sing
And there were plane tickets
Phone calls money spent to rent the hall
It took most of his savings but he
Gladly used them all
But music was his life
It was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy
And it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and
He sang from his soul
He did not know how well he sang;
It just made him whole
The evening came he took the stage
His face set in a smile
And in the half filled hall the critics
Sat watching on the aisle
But the concert was a blur to him
Spatters of applause
He did not know how well he sang
He only heard the flaws
But the critics were concise
It only took four lines
But no one could accuse them
Of being over kind
Mr Martin Tanner Baritone
Of Dayton Ohio made his
Town Hall debut last night
He came well prepared but unfortunately
His presentation was not up to
Contemporary professional standards
His voice lacks the range of tonal color
Necessary to make it
Consistently interesting
Full time consideration of another
Endeavor might be in order
He came home to Dayton and was
Questioned by his friends
Then he smiled and just said nothing
And he never sang again
Excepting very late at night when the
Shop was dark and closed
He sang softly to himself as he sorted
Through the clothes
Music was his life it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and it
Made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and he
Sang from his soul
And he did not know how well he sang;
It just made him whole