Mr. Tanner (edited Live Version) Lyrics - Harry Chapin

Mr. tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest 

And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best 

But 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 

But music was his life, it was not his livelihood 

And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good 

And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul 

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 

And there were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to rent the hall 

It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all 

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But music was his life, it was not his livelihood 

And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good 

And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul 

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 

And in the half filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle 

But 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 

But no one could accuse them of being over kind 

Mr. Martin Tanner, baritone of Dayton, Ohio 

Made his town hall debut last night 

Be 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 

Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order 

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He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends 

Then 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 

Music was his life, it was not his livelihood 

And it made him feel so happy, it made him feel so good 

And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul 

And he did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole