Songs to a Child Born to the Breed

I've been listening to a series of old tapes, favorite music recorded on audio cassettes long ago; long before I had children.   I must have been destined to be a mother; the songs that grabbed me emotionally back in the day are the songs written by the composers to their children.

 Judy Collins' "Born to the Breed" has always moved me.  It is about her then 16 year old son as he leaves home to perform in a rock n roll band, filled with the mixed parental feelings of the joy of his birth and youth to the pain of letting go.

Along the same lines is the better known and iconic "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin.  Lost time and time lost with his son are the themes. I never hear this without a pang. It may have even shaped my parenting subconsciously.

Both  songs are about parental love and loss, albeit for different reasons. Both children, as it turns out, are born to the breed.  Both outcomes are surprising, different, yet similar.

In looking for the musical videos to include in this post, I came across this Judy Collins interview with Rosie O'Donnell.  It was a shock.

   

The poignancy of the song is so much greater now.  I did not know this information until yesterday.

As for Mr. Chapin, I remember his early death, though not the exact circumstances which I, again, learned during my research for the post.

Death is still the one absolute.  

I hope you take the time to watch and listen to these great artists whose lives shaped their music and whose music shaped our lives.

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