"I Wanna Learn a Love Song" | ||||
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Single by Harry Chapin | ||||
from the album Verities & Balderdash | ||||
B-side | "She Sings Songs Without Words" | |||
Released | August 1974 | |||
Recorded | 1974 | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 3:39 | |||
Label | Elektra Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Harry Chapin | |||
Producer(s) | Paul Leka | |||
Harry Chapin singles chronology | ||||
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"I Wanna Learn a Love Song" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song was included on his 1974 album, Verities & Balderdash. The song is about a guitar teacher who gives guitar lessons to a woman who is falling in love with him.
The song is a true story about how Chapin met his wife Sandra Chapin. The song starts out showing a guitar teacher who only has his guitar to "Keep his belly still". For each lesson, he got a "crisp ten dollar bill". The woman in the song says that she wants to play the guitar and hear her children sing with her. As the song goes on, he tried to teach her some chords, but she only wants to listen to him and his guitar. He can hear her husband In his den, "playing stud poker with the boys". Finally, she met him at the door when the "den was dark" suggesting her husband had left. [1] Toward the end of the song, it is implied that he and the woman had sex. [2] There was a significant change to the first verse when Harry performed live—the album "Greatest Stories Live" Is an example of this, where the second and fourth lines of the first verse are altered to a more "adult" version. Instead of "Lean and lazy/And a little bit crazy" the live version Is "Crass and Corny/And a little bit horny"[ citation needed ]
Cash Box called it an "intriguing short story" that "teaches us a lesson about life and love and it's eminently listenable," saying that it has a "great sing-along chorus and a big production." [3]
Simple Song is an unreleased version of the song. It was removed from the album Sniper and Other Love Songs.. The song itself is very much similar to "I Wanna Learn a Love Song", with some lyrical changes and is sung in a much softer voice. The song was released in a 2004 double album with Sniper and Other Love Songs and Heads & Tales , but only in Europe. It included a total of eight unreleased tracks (one from Heads & Tales and seven from Sniper and Other Love Songs ). [4]
Chart (1974–75) | Peak position |
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Australia | 75 |
Canada | 36 [5] |
Canada AC | 14 [6] |
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 7 [7] |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 44 [7] |
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 40 |
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 276 [8] |
Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning artist and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, has sold over 16 million records worldwide.
Sandra Campbell Chapin is an American poet/songwriter and activist. She is best known for her songwriting collaborations with her second husband, singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, and is also the mother of singer Jen Chapin.
Sniper and Other Love Songs is the second studio album by the American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, released in 1972. The album's title song is a vaguely fictionalised account of Charles Whitman's shootings from the clocktower of the Main Building of the University of Texas at Austin in August 1966. In 2004 it was released as a double CD package with Heads & Tales featuring several previously unreleased out-takes.
Verities & Balderdash is the fourth studio album by the American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, released in 1974.. "Cat's in the Cradle" was Chapin's highest-charting single, finishing at number 38 for the year on the 1974 Billboard year-end Hot 100 chart. The follow-up single, "I Wanna Learn a Love Song," charted on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at number 44, and Billboard Adult Contemporary at number 7. A promotional single, "What Made America Famous?", was released to radio stations as a 45 rpm single. The album was certified Gold on December 17, 1974.
Portrait Gallery is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, released in 1975.
"Hush" is a song written by American composer and musician Joe South, for recording artist Billy Joe Royal. The song was later covered by Somebody's Image in 1967. Their version reached #14 in Australia. It was also covered by Deep Purple in 1968 and by Kula Shaker in 1997. Each artist had a Top 5 hit with their version.
"Bell Bottom Blues" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock, and performed by Derek and the Dominos. It dealt with Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, and appeared on the 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Issued as a single, backed with "Keep on Growing", the song reached number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. A re-release backed with "Little Wing" peaked at number 78 on the same chart.
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album Going Public in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.
"Addicted to Love" is a song by English rock singer Robert Palmer released in 1986. It is the third song on Palmer's eighth studio album Riptide (1985) and was released as its third single. The single version is a shorter edit of the full-length album version.
I Am What I Am is an album by American country music artist George Jones, released in 1980 on Epic Records label. On July 4, 2000, the CD version was reissued with four previously unreleased bonus tracks on the Legacy Recordings label.
"She's Got a Way" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, originally released on his first studio album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971) as the opening track of it and as a single from that album in some countries. It was also featured as a single from the 1981 live album Songs in the Attic, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982.
"A Better Place to Be" is a song by Harry Chapin from his 1972 album, Sniper and Other Love Songs. The song is about a midnight watchman confiding in a waitress, while drinking gin, about a woman that he met a week before and had a one-night stand with.
"Everybody Loves You Now" is a song written by Billy Joel. It was first released on his 1971 debut album Cold Spring Harbor and was also released as a b-side to his singles "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today." Live versions were included on the albums Songs in the Attic, 12 Gardens Live and Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert.
The Gold Medal Collection is a 1988 two-CD compilation album featuring various songs and interviews by singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. It was released by Elektra Records to commemorate Chapin for being posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work and campaigns to end hunger. The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1 million copies.
"Corey's Coming" is a song written and sung by Harry Chapin. It was released on his 1976 album On the Road to Kingdom Come.
The Bottom Line Encore Collection is the fourth live album by Harry Chapin, released in 1998 as a two-CD compilation. It was recorded at the Village in New York, and was Harry's two-thousandth concert. The setlist was composed of songs throughout Harry's music career (1972–1981).
Story of a Life is the third posthumous compilation album released featuring Harry Chapin, released in 1999. It was released as a box set containing 3 CDs and a 76-page booklet.
"Sunday Morning Sunshine" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song was included on his 1972 album, Sniper and Other Love Songs. The song was released as a single the same year as his top 20 hit, "Taxi" and debut album, Heads & Tales. Cash Box described it as a "realistic look at city life." Record World said to "look for this melodic self-penning to be covered often and well." The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100, however it received more commercial success when it charted as a top 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary. The song has also been included on numerous posthumous compilation albums. King Biscuit Flower Hour recorded a live performance of the song for the show.
"Halfway to Heaven" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song was included, but not released as a single, on his 1974 album, Verities and Balderdash. The song is based on a true conversation he had while at a train station about sexual morality.
"Could You Put Your Light On, Please" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song was included on his 1972 album, Heads & Tales. It has also been included on numerous posthumous compilation albums.