W*O*L*D
| "W·O·L·D" | ||||
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| Single by Harry Chapin | ||||
| from the album Short Stories | ||||
| B-side | "Short Stories" | |||
| Released | December 1973 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 5:15 | |||
| Label | Elektra Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Harry Chapin | |||
| Producer(s) | Paul Leka | |||
| Harry Chapin singles chronology | ||||
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"W·O·L·D" is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin. The song is about an aging disc jockey who travels the United States seeking happiness, which he believes he will find by following his passion for being a radio broadcaster, only to discover that his life, looks, and voice have all passed him by, as hinted in the OLD of the title.
The song is sung through the point of view of a phone call conversation from the DJ to his ex-wife, only hearing what he has to say to her. The lyrics go on to reveal that perhaps we can never change who we really are, and that what he had really wanted was the love and companionship that had eluded him in a previous failed relationship. The song is said to have helped to inspire Hugh Wilson to conceive of the premise of the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati, including the lyrics of the theme song in which a DJ seems to speak to a former lover about his travels in his occupation—now he's "living in the air in Cincinnati...got tired of packing and unpacking, town to town, up and down the dial."
This hit song was inspired by radio personality Jim Connors, who is credited for having discovered Chapin and promoted his hit, "Taxi," through Boston radio station WMEX, where he was the AM Drive time host. After the debut of "Taxi," Chapin sat in on a phone conversation Connors was having with his ex-wife while in studio at WMEX. This conversation led to a deep and personal discussion during an interview both on and off the air between the men. They talked about life, the business, marriage, divorce, happiness, and all the troubles associated with being a DJ and the music business at the time.
Interestingly, WOLD-FM is an actual radio station in Marion, Virginia, which went on the air in 1968, five years before Chapin recorded the song.
When Chapin would perform this song live, he would frequently replace WOLD in the lyrics with the call letters of some local station in the town he would happen to be in. The live version of the song from the compilation "The Gold Medal Collection" has an example of this, where he replaces WOLD with KHJ, a station in Los Angeles.
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