Chapin, Harry - Taxi Lyrics

743 people need a fucking ride.

For those 700 plus that put a thumbs down. Learn, love and loss are part of the game. You'll understand later on in life.

It's so sad. Now when I have to hail a cab I cry 😖. However I turn it round pretend were old and we spend the 20 on an old movie then swop gardening tips for the rest of time.

Time changes everything , all dreams must conform to life and you can not change the route you have chosen , Let it be .

Fuckin mint song, my dad introduced me to this and at first i thought it was gonna be something kind of silly but no, much more than that. Harry was taken from us to soon.

I love this song, but the "flying" part sounds so tempting, more so than being an actress, and I'm female. That's what's funny about this song: outside of this story, I would rather be a Hollywood actress, but the lyrics make me want to fly into outer space and beyond.

Harry Chapin was a great sing a song writer I was just at a water redeemer hospital when the sun came out I was there for two years but as fucked up as I was then I still would go back to those times and we live this song brings back a lot of great memories and a lot of sad memories but I still go back to those days

I'm curious what he meant by this lyric. What on the outside tided him over till his time ran out? This is the lyric:
'Cause I've been letting my outside tide me
Over 'till my time, runs out

Thanks!!!

I liked this song when it was first out never knowing that one day it would have a lot of similarities to the way my life turned out. It was a Pontiac, not a Dodge, we split up and she married a rich dude living large in the UK. I stayed here in the US and drove a taxi part time. It wasn't until about forty years had passed that I found out she had two kids with him in a loveless marriage and they divorced probably after years of "acting happy". I deliver food now and still drive around flying in my car taking tips and getting stoned. It always happens at the end of my shift when I sing this song to myself sometimes with tears in my eyes and my voice breaking. I guess it is true, we all have a "Taxi" story.

I was thinking about my father and had to hear this song. My father wrote songs for such artists as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles. but after 16 years of marriage his wife left him and he was going totally crazy, so he decided to get a job to take his mind off of things even though he didn't need to work, so he got a job at a friends company delivering lost bags from airports to there owners, so allot of the time was driving to peoples apartments in New York City, and then after delivering the bag he would stand there hoping for a good tip, but at least it got his mind off of my mom, and one day while driving to the next place this song Taxi came on the radio, and it instantly became his favorite song, I can only imagine what was going through his mind and his emotions with his divorce while driving the car on this delivery job and hearing this song, my dad passed away in 2008, and I miss him. ,,,,,,, he also loved Cats in the Cradle, and the Jim Croce song Leroy Brown and Billy Joel's The Piano Man, as far as story songs go.

Because of liberal dummycrats, America lost some her finest young men in Vietnam.

I got to see Harry just before he was taken from us-to this day, still the best concert I've seen to date & I've seen a few.....68 y/o

In this day and age it would be called “ Uber’

I’m 65 years old and this reminds me of my loves lost. I use to cruise town listening to this. Memories of what could have been.

What memories this brings back. Thanks for posting!

Love this song

I am not a fan of most of Harry Chapin's music, but this song is pure genius in its melody, lyrics, narrative arc, guitar picking, and arrangement.

Elena T.

Hello old friend. At 65 and after so many years (must be near 30 or so) I just cried again. A great song that always makes you think back.

It's funny when your young you think you have it all figured out i thought i did now I'm an old man and regretting so many things i did and lost

I'm more of a harder rock song but this is one of my favorite songs of all time. Haunting much like Nillson without you

story telling like this is gone....oh well.

Not totally. But it is harder to find.

greatest rock and roll line every.... "Harry, keep  the change".

i drove a cab in the eighties and this was my favorite song!

Mr. Chaplin made me so happy and so sad...

tried google maps - no 16 parkside lane san fransisco. still love the song though

this song reminds me of the end of the movie taxi driver, dinero and shepard !

Get chills and tears every time I listen stellar music Harry RIP

What a beautiful song. RIP Harry

My favourite part of this song is 2:50 to 4:20

September 2019, still a great song. Still a big miss. RIP HC

DON’T call it Frisco!!!

No words can explain my love for this song.

He had a great voice, loved his music. Some of the best music ever was produced in the early 70s.

I was lucky enough to have this music era in my childhood ,cause not only can i listen to this great music at home in my car but at the store and elevators as well.

He.knew how to tell us a story. Soap operas aren’t as as his good as he

this song has always meant to me all the things in my life that might have been and will never be.

I go fly so high / when I'm stoned !

Whatever we had once was gone !!!

We all have songs like this from our lives.........

HARRY CHAPIN will be MISSED!!

I 💖 TAXI DRIVERS.

Miss him, saw him twice in concert in early 70s💯❤️

One of my favorite songs ever!!!

La La Land, anyone?

I am happy to say here in 2019 that today was the FIRST time I ever heard this song or even the name of the singer. I detest pop music and the "culture" that surrounds it.

This is a great song in every respect, unforgettable and a classic that shall long survive Harry Chapin, a real and authentic songwriter.

This is the saddest song I ever heard next to "Softly, as I leave you"

I have loved this song since it came out in 1970’s!

timeless, absolutely timeless.

happy face

Masterpiece.

As good as it gets!

Through the too many miles and the too little smiles, I still remember you.

jodys womanhood
scotts movie now understood
winter get the wood

"Over-rated," perhaps, but it sure made a lot of the rest of the world sit up and take notice of Harry. As well it should.

Probably the greatest story telling song of all time. Harry Chaplin left us a masterpiece for sure

I love his music. His songs tells a story. So sad, he died so young. You had so much more to give us.

Great great great song.just outstanding.timeless classic.

How are you HARRY . AND HOW ARE YOU SUE.

My parents raised me on all this music,I'm so glad they did

Grew up with it, some wonderful music, enjoy.

Jeez... 1972, Vietnam, I was 18, in the military and heard this song during a thunderstorm in my barracks. His words were lost on me back then, I was too young and dumb. But it has a universal bittersweet truth. "Harry -- Keep the change..." As the song faded out every guy there just sat silent.

t 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 light

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

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

It was somewhere in a fairy tale
I used to take her home in my car
We learned about love in the back of a 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

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
Oh, I've got something inside me
Not what my life's about
'Cause I've been letting my outside tide me
Over 'til my time, runs out

(Baby's so high that she's skying)
(Yes, she's flying, afraid to fall)
(I'll tell you why baby's crying)
('Cause she's dying, aren't we all)

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

Well, another man might have been angry
And another man might have been hurt
But another man never would've let her go
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 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
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned

Many years with this song...and many without this man.

I have the best album ever made of his work.
Harry Chapin Greatest Stories Live is the best album his voice is deeper than the older albums and so much more polished.

Something about songs like this one and Dan Fogelberg’s Same Old Lang Syne that always wreck my heart when I hear them, but I keep looking them up in YouTube. Sometimes I get a taste for punishment.

I love his songs. I would have loved to meet you all. We would have talked for hours. How are ya Harry, I still remember you. Gonna play Harry on the beach, the night is dedicated to him. Peace

...and Travis Bickle was born

Yo this looks like John Mayer

"Whoa I've got, somethin' inside me
To drive the princess blind
There's a wildman wizard
He's hidin' in me
Iluminatin' my mind


Oh, I've got somethin' inside me
Not what my life's about
Cause' I've been lettin'
My outside tide me
Over til' my time, runs out"

This guy had tremendous lyrics. Tremendous.

I heard this song for the first time on the radio when I was driving my Yellow Cab decades ago. My life has moved on to something much different, but I will never forget those taxi driving days and this song.. I

Fucking Incredible music ...............

I still remember you !!

clap.. clap..clap

Oh where you going to/ my lady blue........

One of the greatest songs ever. Gosh he died to soon.
Oh Harry, you left us with a great song, ty
Oh Harry, you left us with a great song, ty

A great story teller who died on his way to give a free concert. Bummer is another great story from this wonderful musician.

Greatest story teller that ever lived. miss him.

What a song.

Love that song. Know it word for word. Can't help but sing along.

Those 661 Dislikes were Uber drivers.

Not as good as Tim Buckley's 'nighthawkin'.

This dude is like Bob Ross for the ears he paints vividly with his words

As a long time SF resident I LOVE THIS SONG! Btw there is no 16 Parkside Lane. Maybe She lived out in ST. Francis Wood somewhere?

who among us has not fantasized about meeting an old flame that broke your heart ?
when I hear this , I GO OFF IN TO IMAGINATION LAND AND imagine what I would say to her ...... some people you never ever get over .... and WE ALL HAVE THEM
That's what this wonderful song does to me .

I have fantasized about meeting a girl again who's heart I broke...but I know that is just as unlikely, and our own BIG mistakes end up staying with us even moreso than any offenses others may have committed against us...

Harry Chapin wrote this song once when he was working at night as a cab driver. He had just broken up with a girl at the time and as he was driving along one night  he was  thinking about her and imagined her getting into his cab.

I go fly so high when I 'm stoned.......

Through the too many miles/ and the too many smiles......

Sue was actually a women that Harry knew and had dated in highschool. Supposedly they met back stage at a concert years after. Harry then wrote this song about the experience that never worked out even the second time around. He just wrote it in a hypothetical ballad story line only Harry can do.

Too many great songs to little time

I know it is a story about me too just like a lot of other people.

miss him

GREAT SONG!! TAKES ME WAY BACK!! TO MY YOUTH IN DA 70.S. YEAH I'M FRKN OLD! I LIVE BY THE SAYING DAT U HAVE TO KEEP MOVING!!

Don't look down bro.

This is what music was meant to be.

Illuminating my mind.........love it.....🍉...

I wonder if Harry Chapin was influenced by this scene in the movie The Roaring Twenties. Same story She saw his name on the license years after they last saw each other just like the song. https://youtu.be/0t76_McUYF4

Magnum opus. A masterpiece. Da Vinci in stereo.

This is one of my all time favorites. I know the whole song by heart.

All I want to say is Billy VanTassel

I graduated high school in '73. The young folks today can never really know how awesome it was to grow up in the era of the singer/songwriters. There was so many male and female artists whose music and lyrics spoke to our generation in ways I don't see from some of those today. Harry Chapin rarely got good reviews from the so called "music critics", but it did not influence his fans from propelling him into one of the greatest entertainers of the '70s. And he was one of those great story tellers through his songs.

I FEEL OLD