| "W·O·L·D" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| 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 | |||
| Songwriter(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.[1] 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.[2] The song is said to have helped to inspire 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."