About the song
“Taxi” is a song written by Harry Chapin and released as a single in early 1972, coinciding with the release of his album “Heads & Tales.” This autobiographical ballad, narrated in the first person, tells the poignant story of a taxi driver who unexpectedly encounters an old flame from his youth when she becomes his passenger. The song’s narrative style and emotional depth helped establish Chapin’s distinctive musical identity, making “Taxi” his early signature song.
Chapin debuted “Taxi” on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” where his performance was met with such enthusiasm that viewers flooded the show with requests for his return. Remarkably, Johnny Carson brought Chapin back the very next night for an encore performance, marking the first time in the show’s history that this had happened.
Jim Connors, music director and disc jockey at Boston’s AM radio station WMEX, is credited with discovering Chapin. The single quickly gained traction, charting on both WMEX and WRKO in late February 1972. By April, it reached number one on both stations and ranked fourth for the year. This early success in Boston helped propel “Taxi” onto the national stage, where it peaked at number 24 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in June 1972, after a 16-week run. Billboard also ranked it number 85 on its year-end singles list. In Canada, the single enjoyed similar success.
The song’s narrative unfolds as Harry, a cab driver in San Francisco, picks up a well-dressed woman on a rainy night. She asks to be taken to her home in an affluent part of town. As they drive, Harry realizes the woman is Sue, an old flame from his youth. Both had pursued their dreams: Sue aimed to be an actress, and Harry wanted to learn to fly, reflecting Chapin’s own experience at the United States Air Force Academy. When they arrive at Sue’s home, she vaguely suggests they get together sometime, but Harry knows this won’t happen. She gives him a $20 bill for a $2.50 fare, telling him to keep the change.
The song’s lyrics poignantly highlight the irony of their fulfilled yet unfulfilled lives: Sue is “acting” happy in a loveless marriage and sterile affluence, while Harry is “flying” a taxi, taking tips, and “getting stoned.” A censored radio version of the single replaced “stoned” with “stalled.” Chapin described the song’s narrative technique as cinematic, immersing listeners in the story rather than directly stating the characters’ feelings. This approach, while making the song lengthy, creates a deeply engaging experience.
Critics praised “Taxi” for its storytelling. Record World called it “spell-binding,” while Billboard highlighted it as a “strong piece of folk ballad material” despite its length. In 1980, responding to fans’ curiosity about the characters’ futures, Chapin wrote and released “Sequel,” continuing the story of Harry and Sue meeting again ten years later. “Sequel” peaked slightly higher on the Hot 100 than “Taxi,” but its run was shorter, marking Chapin’s last appearance on the chart. He joked that a third installment would be called “Hearse” to conclude the characters’ story. Tragically, Chapin passed away seven months after “Sequel” peaked, leaving behind a legacy of storytelling through song.
Video
Lyrics
Good job!
Now
An expected hush falls over the crowd
As the judgement phase of this incredible competition goes on
Do you need to discuss amongst yourselves?
Who-
Actually, why don’t we do it this way
First, why don’t we have these three different qualities
One is enthusiasm, one is volume and one is quantity
I mean, uh- quality
Enthusiasm, you know, physical enthusiasm
Volume and then quality, okay, of the sounds
So, in each of those three categories, make your decision
How about for enthusiasm, who won? (Girls!)
The ladies?
How about for quality? (Girls! Men!)
It was a tie, on that
Okay
Volume, who won? (The ladies!)
The ladies!
So it’s two and a half to one half
So, I guess it’s pretty much a wipeout, the women won, eh?
Alright, now… (Rematch!)
After- rematch?
Oh, I’ll tell you what
I’m gonna end right now with “Taxi” and I need some volunteers for that
And you know, another four guys and four girls to sing the high part in “Taxi”
Okay?
Here’s a girl, girl, guy
Guy, guy- Christ, I feel like Billy Graham all of a sudden here!
Okay, I guess that’s enough, now
Where’s the microphones, we need two- oh, here they are
One here, one there
This is better than last year
Last year we had all the guys on one side
And all the girls on the other
It was like a high school dance
Okay, now
Do you know the high part in “Taxi”?
Here goes, “Man, it’s so hard that she’s not here”
Guys, you may have trouble getting up there
What you gotta do is either cross your legs
Or persuade one of the girls to grab on, okay?
Okay, you might as well sit down
But this is go’ be an extravaganza again
Okay, now lemme explain one more thing
I would like…
When you get this amount of people on the stage it looks boring
So, I would like, in any point that you feel
That it’s getting boring up here
I would like you guys to break into your spinners moves, okay
We did this last time and it was really exciting
Can you guys- I mean, even dancing all the time, you might as well
Okay
You got couple of things, start with your left foot, so you’re all together, right
Oh I can see there’s not a dance school in this college
Okay
Now if we do our part which is the little spinners moves and the high part in “Taxi”
I’ll feed you the lyrics when we get to it
They’ve got to something which is, of course
The two spoken lines in the song, okay
That is yours
We’re not gonna prompt them, right
All yours, clear announciation
I want it louder than the countdown
Okay, the two spoken lines
And then when we get to the last line of the song
Everybody here
Will sing that with the fervour we should reserve for the National Anthem
Absolute, just, absolute pandemonium harmony
Excitement, drama
You excited over here? (Yeah!)
That’s the reaction like a Dick Clark audience in American Bandstand
You know, they introduce the acts, they all go like
“Yey”
Okay, here we go!
Gimme a whispered countdown, not a loud one
One, two (One, two, three, four)
It was raining hard in ‘Frisco
I needed one more fare to make my night
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down
She got in at the lights
“Oh where you going to, my lady blue?
It’s a shame you ruined your gown in the rain”
She just looked out the window
She said, “Sixteen Parkside Lane”
Alright!
Something about her was familiar
I could swear I’d seen her face before
But she said, “I’m sure you’re mistaken”
And she didn’t say anything more
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror
And she glanced at the license for my name
A smile seemed to come to her slowly
It was a sad smile, just the same
And she said, “How are you, Harry?”
I said, “How are you, Sue?
Through the too many miles and the too little smiles
I still remember you”
We got one, uh-
Ah, now you got it together, finally
It was somewhere in a fairy tale
I used to take her home in my car
We learned about love in the back of the Dodge
The lesson hadn’t gone too far
You see she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off to find the sky
I wish this was on TV
All those people out there, listening in radioland
We have about fourteen people behind me
Making asses of themselves
It’s really…
And frankly, if we only had more people in this damn society
Making asses off themselves for good causes
It would be a hell of a lot nicer place to be
Oh, I’ve got something inside me
To drive a princess blind
There’s a wild man, wizard
He’s hiding in me, illuminating my mind
Go Rockets, go
Oh, I’ve got something inside me
But it’s not what my life’s about
‘Cause I’ve been letting my outside tide me
Over ’till my time, runs out
Now you got- You’re all out of breath now
But you gotta do it, it goes
“Baby’s so high-”
“Baby’s so high that she’s skying”
“Yes, she’s flying, afraid to fall”
Give ’em another countdown
Quietly, whisper it sexy
One…
Right, “yes, she’s flying”
(Yes, she’s flying)
“Afraid to fall”
(Afraid to fall)
“I’ll tell you why baby’s crying”
(I’ll tell you why baby’s crying)
“‘Cause she’s dying”
(‘Cause she’s dying)
“Aren’t we all?”
(Aren’t we all)
One minute!
You guys…
You guys over here were cooking
But I didn’t here one note out of this side
Did you?
Let’s hear this side over here
I wanna see what’s happening over here
Give ’em another countdown
Little more enthusiastic
Maybe we can get up off it
One, two, a-one, two, three, four
(Baby’s so high that she’s skying)
“Yes, she’s flying”
(Yes, she’s flying)
If this was the Gong show, what would happen?
Okay but you guys definitely did good
Alright!
You get an A for effort
But don’t give up your day jobs
There was not much more for us to talk about
Whatever we had once was gone
So I turned my cab into the driveway
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns
And she said we must get together
But I knew it’d never be arranged
And she handed me twenty dollars for a two fifty fare
She said
(“Harry, keep the change!”)
Alright!
Well, another man might have been angry
And another man might have been hurt
But another man never would have let her go
So I-
(Stashed the bill in my shirt!)
And she walked away in silence
It’s strange how you never know
But we’d both gotten what we’d asked for
Such a long, long time ago
“You see, she was gonna be”
You see she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off for the sky
And here, she’s acting happy
Inside her handsome home
And me, I’m flying in my taxi
Taking tips
(And getting stoned!)
Everybody, now sing it loud!
I go flying-
Harmony!
So high, when I’m stoned
I love you!
Okay, this song is the Chapin theme song
And as a matter of fact
I want all of you here tonight
Who are gonna go to the concert tomorrow night
To give my brother Tom a message, okay?
When he starts his second song
His second song tomorrow night
The first note of the second song
I want everybody in the audience to go
“Harry says, ‘Tom, it sucks’!”
Okay?
Y’all shake him up, okay?
When he starts his second song tomorrow night
Say, “Harry-”
As a matter of fact, give him a countdown
That way you get it all together
One, two, a-one, two, three, four
“Tom, Harry says, it sucks!”
Okay, do that for me tomorrow night as a favour