The Rock

(Harry Chapin)

The rock is gonna fall on us, he woke with a start And he ran to his mother, the fear dark in his heart And he told her of the vision that he was sure he'd seen She said: "Go back to sleep son, you're having a bad dream!"

(Silly child) Everybody knows the rock leans over the town Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground Remember Chicken Little said the sky was falling down Well nothing ever came of that, the world still whirls around

"The rock is gonna fall on us," he stood and told the class The professor put his chalk down and peered out through his glasses But he went on and said; "I've seen it, high up on the hill If it doesn't fall this year then very soon it will!"

(Crazy boy) Everybody knows the rock leans over the town Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears You know that rock's been perched up there for a hundred thousand years

"The rock is gonna fall on us." He told the magistrates "I believe that we can stop it but the time is getting late You see I've done all the research my plans are all complete." He was showing them contingencies when they showed him to the street

(Just a madman) Everybody knows the rock leans over the town Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground Everybody knows of those who say the end is near Everybody knows that life goes on as usual round here

He went up on the mountain beside the giant stone They knew he was insane so they left him alone He'd given up enlisting help for there was no one else He spent his days devising ways to stop the rock himself One night while he was working building braces on the ledge The ground began to rumble the rock trembled on the edge

"The rock is gonna fall on us! Run or you'll all be crushed!" And indeed the rock was moving, crumbling all to dust He ran under it with one last hope that he could add a prop And as he disappeared the rock came to a stop

The people ran into the street but by then all was still The rock seemed where it always was or where it always will be When someone asked where he had gone they said: "Oh he was daft. Who cares about that crazy fool." And then they'd start to laugh

But high up on the mountain When the wind is hitting it If you're watching very closely The rock slips a little bit...

-- Arnie Rimmer (arnie_rimmer@usa.net), October 21, 1998

Answers

Goodness...Arnie...nice to find another Chapin fan. What album is that on...I thought I had heard them all...Wonderful piece.

"All my life's a circle, sunrise and sundown, The moon rolls through the nightime, til the daybreak comes around. All my life's a circle, but I can't tell you why,... Just seasons spinnin' round again. The years keep rollin' by."

I miss Harry.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), October 23, 1998.

Originally found on the album "Portrait Gallery" but on several anthologies.

Though I was quite young, I remember where I was the day JFK was assasinated in Dallas. I remember where I was the day the Challenger exploded. And I remember where I was the morning of July 16, 1981 when Harry Chapin was killed in an auto accident in Jericho, New York.

His talent and dedication to changing the planet for the better made him one of my personal heros. If you're a Chapin fan and have never heard "The Rock", invest in the CD.

Arnie

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), October 25, 1998.