Stephen Schwartz is best known as a writer of Broadway and film songs, but he is sometimes called upon to perform his own pieces. Recently, his friend Paul Lazarus created a podcast from a 1986 radio program and included his interview with Schwartz. On this episode you can hear Schwartz describe his career journey and perform “Fathers And Sons” from Working. You’ll also hear other Schwartz songs: “Magic To Do,” “Butterflies Are Free,” “Day By Day,” “All Good Gifts,” “Corner Of The Sky,” “Simple Joys,” “West End Avenue,” “Chanson,” “Gifts Of Love,” and “I Hear America Singing,”
Regarding “Fathers and Sons,” Schwartz says the song was inspired by a passage from Studs Terkel’s book Working that commented on how “parents aspire for their children to have better lives than they have had themselves. And out of this, I wrote a song based a lot on my feelings for both my own son and my feelings about my father.”
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Read the full story of Working and Schwartz’s career in Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked.
