Harry Chapin, who passed away in a car crash in July 1981, had his biggest hits with songs that are sad. In “Cat’s in the Cradle,” he sings about a father’s regrets. In “Taxi,” he sings about a lover’s regrets. And in “The Shortest Story,” he sings one of the world’s most depressing songs about a newborn baby starving to death. Chapin, though, worked to make the world a better place by fighting against world hunger with his Harry Chapin Foundation, which continues his work.
“Corey’s Coming”
I think the contrast with the sad themes in his catalog is what makes me especially love one of his lesser-known songs, “Corey’s Coming.” The song first appeared on Chapin’s album On the Road to Kingdom Come (1976).
Although I see the song as one of Chapin’s happier songs, one might point out that the song still has a death and a funeral. But from the start, the music tells us this song is not going to leave us sad and alone. Yes, the old man dies, but his friend and Corey manage to find a happy ending.
I have friends who named their daughter “Corey” after the song. I thought it was a cool choice, and Wikipedia also reports that a number of fans have named their children “Corey” because they love the wonderful song.
Who is Corey?
But the song itself is somewhat unclear about “Corey.” In the first part of the song, the people who knew the old man think he is referring to a former wife or lover (“his life-long love”).
But by the end of the song, I always thought that the Corey who showed up must be John Joseph’s daughter (“a beautiful young woman”). At the end of the funeral near the end of the song, Corey herself only says, “You could say I’m just a friend.”
They put the cold dirt over him and left me on my own;
And when at last I looked up I saw I was not alone;
So I said, If you’re a relative, he had a peaceful end;
That’s when she said, My name is Corey you can say I’m just a friend.
Some listeners wonder if the townspeople were right and that Corey was just an imaginary figure (“reality is only just a word”). Others surmise that Corey might be an angel of death.
For me, though, the music helps answer the question even if the words are unclear. The key of the song and the melody are too uplifting not to take the singer literally at the end about the arrival of Corey.
Also, Chapin’s songwriting usually was literal and straightforward, which also supports the interpretation with the happy ending of the narrator meeting Corey. After the meeting, the narrator implies that the reason he works in the railroad yard is because he now lives there with Corey (although again, others might instead interpret it as the young man waiting for death).
Can’t you see my Corey’s coming, no more sad stories coming;
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory’s coming aren’t you girl?
And like he told me, when she holds me she enfolds me in her world.
Inspirations for the Song
Chapin’s brother Tom Chapin has explained that Harry got the idea for the song from a songwriter named John Joseph. And Harry then used “John Joseph” for the name for the old man in the song.
Harry Chapin apparently never explained the ending as far as I know. But the name “Corey” had positive connotations for him. When Chapin was starting out and did not have much money, a couple took him in when he was on the road.
The woman’s name was Corey.
What do you think “Corey’s Coming” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
I just heard this song yesterday and I believe it really was a women, a lover, and a place in his heart and mind that brought this lonely man some peace. We all have places we go to in our minds that soothe the sorrows, and loneliness of this life we live.
I agree that the song does such a good job of capturing that feeling. Thanks for the comment!
I’ve follwed Harry since about 1975. I’ve aways thought that Corey was John Joseph’s gardian angle and then she became the young mans gardian angle and that’s why he took the low paying job, because Corey was going to be there for him too.
I assumed she was his daughter, so everyone is misinterpreting her as a romantic interest, and after his passing (being closer to the narrator’s age) they get married and “no more sad stories coming”.
I think that is the most reasonable interpretation too. The singer even notes that when John Joseph talked about Corey, “He’d turn back the years, she’d seem forever young.” But the singer later discovers the reason Corey seemed young in John Joseph’s stories was because she was young, i.e., his daughter. Or at least that is one way to interpret it. Thanks for the comment!
I think she is the daughter that visits him by train so the townsfolk never see her and he doesn’t want them to know. The narrator changes the tense to the present, like he told me, when she holds me, she enfolds me in her world. That’s why he stays at the station, no more sad stories. And John Joseph probably told his Corey about his friend that visits. The only 2 at the funeral and they end up together, great song.
Corey, I believe was symbolic of death and peace. John Wallace found enjoyment in telling his stories of the past, but his life was slowing down with no new stories. He was ready for his Corey to come. She could have been an angel, as she disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
That is an interesting interpretation too. I’d always assumed from the last chorus that Corey did not disappear and stayed with the singer, who was a “young man.” But I also can see your interpretation where the young man could be looking forward to Corey coming someday for him. Thanks for the comment!
I’ve always felt that Corey was the Angel of Death. She says “It’s time he got some rest”. He was waiting for her and the release from worldly troubles that death brings – “No more sad stories coming”. The fact that she is still a young woman tells me that she isn’t of this world. He’s an old man but she has retained her youth. In any case, it is a beautiful song no matter what your interpretation.
I agree it is a beautiful song that works with different interpretations. Although I lean toward a different reading, your interpretation makes a lot of sense. The ambiguity in the lyrics is probably one of the things that makes it such a great song. Thanks for the comment.
I have followed Harry since the beginning….In Baltimore coffee houses. I have an autographed World Hunger Year shirt. I have always taken it literally. Corey was real. Maybe a little magical.
I’m convinced that Corey represents the old man’s love of rail travel that he passed on to the young narrator through his story telling -presumably of his own days traveling on trains. At the burial, the young man realizes that he’s enfolded in that world of railroads, as symbolized by “seeing” Corey. That’s why he takes over the railyard job. If my hypothesis is true, I assume the name Corey hints at that by encompassing “C&O RR (Railroad)”.
Interesting theory, I hadn’t thought of that one. Thanks!
If Harry had been around longer, he probably would have explained it eventually. I’m ok with the idea that she’s a figment of both their imaginations, but my preferred version is that the young Corey is his daughter, and that her mother was also named Corey. Maybe someone far more imaginative than I will write a screenplay one day.
That is a good point about the possibility of it being two people, and I’ll look forward to that screenplay! Thanks for the comment.
Harry Chapin was taken from us too soon.
My best friend introduced me to Harry Chapin right after High School, around 1978. He was larger than life, and I loved his story songs.
The first time I heard this haunting ballad was when I purchased the live music album on vinyl shortly after it’s release: Legends of the Lost and Found. I say “haunting” because of the Cello strains that draw us toward a more somber element of the music.
In Legend of the Lost and Found, Harry says all I needed to know when he introduces the song at the concert: “It’s a song about an old man with a dream, and a young boy who buys it, and it’s called ‘Corey’s Comin’.”
In the song we learn that John Joseph never had a woman, let alone a wife. What John Joseph did have, in abundance, was “Time,” and an active imagination. If he never had a woman, then he didn’t have a daughter. We can only speculate as to where the inspiration for “His Corey” came from. Note that it was not “A girl named Corey,” it was, to him, “My Corey,” who was “forever young.”
My interpretation was that John “invented” Corey, (“old man with a dream,”) out of his “love and desire.” He imagined her so clearly and perfectly that she became real to him…He could actually experience her presence. He then described her so vividly and magically to the young boy, that even the balladeer could also experience her in his mind, as if she was real. (“and a young boy who buys it,” ) and by “it” we are talking about the dream.
If we are to give Harry his due, we need to honor his introductory remarks, and accept that Corey was a “dream.” Her appearance at John Joseph’s fresh grave was a figment of the boy’s imagination, or it was a supernatural experience of some unknown origin.
I am inclined to take the story at face value. The old man conjured up the perfect companion, a beautiful woman, who could, euphemistically, “enfold you in her world.” and he “sold” the idea of her to a kid that was young and impressionable enough to believe.
As the song finishes up, time rolls slowly by while the young boy grows old, in the loving embrace of his own conjured up companion. It is a macabre story, with an upbeat musical tempo, but it still has a “Twilight Zone” quality to it… and I, for one, truly love that.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. As I note in the original post, I think there is a good case for her being imaginary. And I like your reference to “Twilight Zone,” which makes sense here. I do think the flipside is still possible because the line about never being with a woman is not from the narrator but from the “townfolk” (“They said old John was born here, he’s lived here all his life
He’s never had a woman, let alone a wife.”). So it is possible they just did not know about Corey. Maybe one of the best things about the song is that it is open to different interpretations. Take care!
I have listened this song my whole life and it hits me every time. Here are my thoughts…
John Joseph works at the railroad yard where it used to be bustling with trains incoming, out-going, and now, “Only one run a week comes on roaring down that line.”
Though the town folk claim that he’s lived here all his life, that doesn’t mean the line about “All the places that he knew” is a lie. He’s met travelers from all over and has heard their own stories of where they come from. JJ knows a great deal about the world. “He’s never had a woman, let alone a wife,” but what if Corey was one of these travelers? A traveler he had a unique encounter with. A deeper connection than with anyone else he had met in his life. She came by night, they spent the hours together, and she was gone by morning to continue her journey, but before she left, she promised to return. With one last great embrace, she was on her way. When JJ says, “Reality is only just a word,” I believe he’s referring to “the truth” that the town folk told the young man, not suggesting that Corey is imaginary/metaphysical.
Corey is real, and JJ never lost hope that she would return. That’s why he has stayed with this one remaining train line. Even if there is only one run a week, there is still hope, and that one beautiful day was enough to fill him with lifelong happiness. To quote “It Only Take A Moment” from Hello, Dolly!, “Even if I have to dig ditches for the rest of my life, I should be a ditch digger who once had a wonderful day!”
With his dear friend now gone, the young man follows in JJ’s footsteps. Though the job doesn’t pay much, it’s enough to live. And though it seems lonely, the young man has never known anyone with a more happy life than JJ. Now, the hope that he will find his own love keeps his spirit alive and truly happy.