Chapin would state in his concerts, as well as some of his TV appearances such as "The Tonight Show" that this song is about his relationship with his wife, specifically her ex husband letting her go and the two of them getting together (thus her ex is the "Poor, Damn Fool").
Chapin would joke that songs about your "old lady's ex old man" were surprisingly absent from the singer-songwriter movement of the time, which he was correcting with this song.
Chapin would state in his concerts, as well as some of his TV appearances such as "The Tonight Show" that this song is about his relationship with his wife, specifically her ex husband letting her go and the two of them getting together (thus her ex is the "Poor, Damn Fool").
Chapin would joke that songs about your "old lady's ex old man" were surprisingly absent from the singer-songwriter movement of the time, which he was correcting with this song.