Mr. Tanner

Music is my life, it is not my livlihood...maybe not music, but jewlery. Just a little back story.. When I create, sometimes I might not have a clue what I'm going to make ...some days I don't even want to make anything,but I turn on the music and I'm inspired. Both of my parents have passed away back when I was in my 20's so I have a tendency to listen to music that they enjoyed and it makes me feel closer to them. Neither one was alive when I started making jewelry, so it's my little ode to them :)

Back to Mr. Tanner... One of my father's favorites was Harry Chapin..I don't think he ever really forgave Mom for not wanting to go to a Harry concert right before he(Harry Chapin) died in '81. Dad would blare it down in the basement and I'd yell downstairs for him to turn it down! He'd always yell up "Miss, I like my music loud and my women quiet" That always got a grin out of me. Mr.Tanner is the name of a Harry Chapin song about a dry cleaner who sang a beautiful baritone and everyone in the neighborhood told him he needs to sing professionally. Here are the lyrics and a live video of Harry performing.

Mr. Tanner
by Harry Chapin

Mister 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.


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.


(spoken) 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.
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 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.



I can so relate to Mr.Martin Tanner..jewelry is my life, it is not my livlihood....but it makes me feel so happy and it makes me feel so whole. Never let critic's get you down as long as you love what you're doing.