View source for W.O.L.D.

{{Infobox song
| name       = W·O·L·D
| cover      = W.O.L.D. - Harry Chapin.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Harry Chapin]]
| album      = [[Short Stories (Harry Chapin album)|Short Stories]]
| B-side     = Short Stories
| released   = December 1973
| format     =
| recorded   = 1973
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Folk rock]]
| length     = 5:15
| label      = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
| writer     = Harry Chapin
| producer   = [[Paul Leka]]
| prev_title = [[A Better Place to Be]]
| prev_year  = 1972
| next_title = [[Cat's in the Cradle]]
| next_year  = 1974
}}
"'''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.<ref name="osb771103"/> 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.<ref name="claba"/>
The song is said to have helped to inspire [[Hugh Wilson (director)|Hugh Wilson]] to conceive 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 on the air in Cincinnati...got kind of tired of packing and unpacking, town to town, up and down the dial."
==Inspiration==
The hit song was inspired by radio personality Jim Connors, who is credited for having discovered Chapin and promoted his hit, "[[Taxi (Harry Chapin song)|Taxi]]", through [[Boston]] radio station [[WMEX (AM)|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 a 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7655 |title=W.O.L.D. by Harry Chapin Songfacts |website=Songfacts.com |access-date=2016-09-24}}</ref>
The song describes the often transitory and difficult lives of radio personalities, whose careers may require them to move from city to city.  After losing his job due to [[age discrimination]] (as suggested by the call letters "W-OLD" and "they said that they like the young sound when they let me go"), the singer leaves his family to spend eight years in gigs in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]] and then [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]] before having the opportunity to again work in his home city.  However, upon returning, his overtures to reunite with his ex-wife are summarily rebuffed, as she has moved on with her life.
[[WOLD-FM]] is an actual radio station in [[Marion, Virginia]], which went on the air in [[1968 in radio|1968]], five years before Chapin recorded the song.<ref name="bc69" />
When performing the song live, Chapin frequently replaced WOLD in the last verse with the call letters of a local station in the town where the performance was held.  The live version of the song from the compilation ''[[The Gold Medal Collection]]'' has an example of this; WOLD was replaced with [[KHJ (AM)|KHJ]], a station in Los Angeles.
==Commercial performance==
The song, included on the album ''[[Short Stories (Harry Chapin album)|Short Stories]],'' peaked on the US charts at number 36 in March 1974<ref name="bb740323"/> and at number 34 in the UK.<ref name="osb771103"/> However, when Chapin performed it on the ''[[Greatest Stories Live]]'' album, he jokingly said that the song actually charted for "[[15 minutes of fame|15 minutes]]."<ref name="ei791027"/>  It was also very notable in Canada, reaching number 14 and number 9. The song charted in multiple other countries in the top 20. It went on to sell over a million units.
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1973–1974)
!Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia<ref name="australian-charts1">{{cite web|url=http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo%3Dviewthread%26id%3D35092 |title=australian-charts.com - Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts) |access-date=May 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602084720/http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092 |archive-date=June 2, 2016 }}</ref>
|21
|-
!scope="row"|Canada ''[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]'' Top Singles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4993a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - March 23, 1974}}</ref>
|14
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Adult Contemporary<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5008&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=4ka5t8g9v4cqih16migimv91a6 |title= RPM Pop Music Playlist |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=6 April 1974 |access-date=2016-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925012905/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5008&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=4ka5t8g9v4cqih16migimv91a6|archive-date=25 September 2016}}</ref>
|9
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands ([[Dutch Top 40]])<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.top40.nl/harry-chapin/harry-chapin-morning-d-j-of-w-o-l-d-9456| title = Dutch Top 40, WOLD|access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref>
|25
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand (''[[New Zealand Listener|Listener]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=1292#n_view_location |title=flavour of new zealand - search listener |website=Flavourofnz.co.nz |access-date=2016-09-24}}</ref>
|16
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles Chart<ref name="osb771103"/>
|34
|-
!scope="row"|US ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]]<ref name="bb740323"/><ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002''</ref>
|36
|-
!scope="row"|US ''Billboard'' [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Adult Contemporary]]<ref>{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1993 |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 |publisher= Record Research |page=46}}</ref>
|37
|-
!scope="row"|US ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' Top 100<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19740330.html |title=Top 100 1974-03-30 |work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox Magazine]] |access-date=2015-04-16 }}</ref>
|26
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1974)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia<ref name="australian-charts1"/>
|149
|-
!scope="row"|Canada<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3893b&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=4ka5t8g9v4cqih16migimv91a6 |title= RPM 1974 Wrap Up |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=28 December 1974 |access-date=2016-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927010830/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3893b&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=4ka5t8g9v4cqih16migimv91a6|archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>
|141
|-
!scope="row"|US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref name=hot100>{{cite web|url=http://www.bullfrogspond.com/whitburn/1974wye.htm |title=1974 Year End |website=Bullfrogspond.com |access-date=2016-09-24}}</ref>
|226
|}
{{col-end}}
==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="claba">{{cite web |publisher=ClassicBands.com |title=A Friend Remembers Harry Chapin |url=http://www.classicbands.com/HarryChapinInterview.html |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="bc69">{{cite book |title=1969 Broadcasting Yearbook |chapter=The Facilities of AM-FM Radio |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc |location=Washington, DC |year=1969 |page=B-169}}</ref>
<ref name="bb740323">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |title=Hot 100 for Week Ending March 23, 1974 |url=http://www.top40radioshows.com/BB_1974-03-23.pdf |date=March 23, 1974 |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="osb771103">{{cite news |first=Jesse |last=Lewis |work=[[Ocala Star-Banner]] |location=[[Ocala, FL]] |title=DJ's Off Mike: Tuning In On The Radio Rodeo |page=10A |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MJ9PAAAAIBAJ&pg=6798,747634&dq=wold+chapin&hl=en |date=November 3, 1977 |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="ei791027">{{cite news |work=[[St. Petersburg Independent]] |location=[[St Petersburg, FL]] |title=Rock, Storytellers And Jazz Fill November Concert Calendar |page=12D |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0bdaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5437,3690787&dq=wold+chapin&hl=en |date=October 27, 1979 |access-date=January 27, 2011}}</ref>
}}
==External links==
* {{YouTube|SubLzRKYuo4|"W·O·L·D"}}
{{Harry Chapin}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1973 songs]]
[[Category:1973 singles]]
[[Category:Elektra Records singles]]
[[Category:Harry Chapin songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Harry Chapin]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Paul Leka]]
[[Category:Songs about radio]]
[[Category:Songs about telephone calls]]
[[Category:Songs about Tulsa, Oklahoma]]