Harry Chapin - Mr. Tanner lyrics

Mister Tanner was a cleaner from
A town in the Midwest
And of all the cleaning shops around
He'd made his the best
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

(O fall on your knees)
But music was his life
It was not his livelihood
(O hear the angel voices)
And it made him feel so happy and
It made him feel so good (O night divine)
He sang from his heart and
He sang from his soul
(O night, O night divine)
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
There were plane tickets, phone calls
Money spent to rent the hall
It took most of his savings
But he gladly used them all

(O fall on your knees)
But music was his life
It was not his livelihood
(O hear the angel voices)
And it made him feel so happy and
It made him feel so good (O night divine)
He sang from his heart and
He sang from his soul
(O night, O night divine)
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
In the half-filled hall the critics
Sat watching on the aisle
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 and no one could accuse
Them of being overkind

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 (sung)
Full time consideration of another endeavor
Might be in order

He came home to Dayton and
Was questioned by his friends
But 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

(O fall on your knees)
But music was his life
It was not his livelihood
(O hear the angel voices)
And it made him feel so happy and
It made him feel so good (O night divine)
And he sang from his heart and
He sang from his soul
(O night, O night divine)
He did not know how well he
Sang it just made him whole