Thank You Dan Fogelberg

The sad passing of singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg will aptly be noted online, and via TV entertainment news rollouts the next few days. But before the singer's 'soft rock' songwriting legacy is moved to the great chyron in the sky (Dennis Leary used to have a bit about suing Fogelberg for turning him into a p***y'), let us devote a few minutes to a song of his that will last long after all of us have checked out. Dan's 1981 hit 'Same Old Lang Syne,' which has become a holiday radio staple, has grown in stature through the years for reasons well beyond its seasonal appeal. Verse for verse - the simple retelling of an accidental-meeting with and old flame in a grocery store is one of the most deceptively compelling narratives in pop music history. I first remember it has the object of much derision for me and my art school buddies, schooled in the post-punk thrashings of the Clash and Elvis Costello, Fogelberg's 'Syne' came off as overly-sentimental pap. Upon its annual return to radio station playlists throughout the holidays, it became - at best - a guilty pleasure. A few more years passed and I began to miraculously notice there was a pretty damn good lyric woven into that sentimental tapestry of his. A lyric that, admittedly, Elvis Costello might have even written. The past few seasons - married - kids of my own - all past loves and indulgences dutifully banished to boxes and bags in the attic of my memory like bad tinsel - the song has become, unapologetically, a throat-catching, red-light must-hear - the kind of perennial holiday gem that if you catch just the right verse as you turn that car radio knob - you're suddenly transported away from the rest of the world waiting eternally for that light to turn green. A soul-rattling 5-minute ghost-of-a-Christmas story that maintains the ability to stop you colder than any horn-blaring a**hole behind you ever can. Ultimately, Fogelberg's unvarnished delivery of that final passage as he laments the onset of 'that old familiar pain' (as ex-ex-high school sweetheart silently drives away) rings even more true each with each passing year, most of us having owed up, by now, to at least a few better angels having driven off in the other direction. The throat-catching final breath he let's us take before the song's heartbreaking coda - '... the snow turned into rain' - rightfully cements its place as a bittersweet treasure of the season. A wistful sonnet capturing simultaneity of human emotions that Kris Kristofferson once said (no slouch himself in the songwriting department) is the most powerful one-two combo a good songwriter can deliver. The ability to remind us, achingly, how we often abandon the fleeting 'better' for a much-less transient and complicated 'merely OK.'

Dan Fogelberg - may he rest in peace - left us a lamp of a song that reminds us it is indeed 'OK' to re-acquaint ourselves with all those missing parts. Necessary, in fact - to our very survival. With the current holiday cycle now sped-up beyond human capability to enjoy it; with unrealistic family expectations and bloodless retail forecasts drummed into us 24/7 - somehow being left standing in that parking lot drizzle with Mr. Fogelberg at the end of each year seems like a purpose accomplished in itself.

Made it through another one? I think so. How about you?

Cue the glasses clinking.

Cue the asshole beeping his horn.

Thank you Dan Fogelberg.

Comments

[IndyStacey]

Twenty-five years ago I attended my first concert, Dan Fogelberg, with my dad. I was fifteen and felt like such a dork with my father as my date. My father passed away three years ago. Now I treasure that memory. I always think of him whenever I come across a Dan Fogelberg song on the radio.
Fogelberg was a great songwriter and musician. He will be remembered by many.

[singermuse]

His passing leaves me sad and nostalgic for the time when musicians could be individuals and write songs of whatever length they chose and still be heard on the radio. Not so today with mega corporations and advertisers behind the wheel demanding the commodification of culture, less talent, less thinking, shorter songs, less real music. It is no wonder more and more musicians are going independent. Mr. Fogelberg, bless him, wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell of making it in our current materialistic "pseudo-culture".
But thankfully there are plenty of good musicians and artists out there. You might not hear them on commercial radio, but they're alive and well and still creating something beautiful.

[TechHead]

I purchased the Souvenirs LP while still in high school when it first came out. It just blew me away, and I was a fan ever since.

'Syne' was great, but only a sample of his talent. A similar song was "The Last Nail" from the Captured Angel LP. It deserves a listen. Also from that album, "Man in the Mirror - Below the Surface", another great tune that blends together in a unique way.

I was a big time Beatles, Cream, LZ fan, but I loved that soft California rock sound (Eagles, Jackson Browne, etc.). Fogelberg fit right in there. And of course many of them helped him in the studio.

Dan was great, he will be missed...

[leftbehind2000]

Your post gave me chills, as it succinctly captured my own feelings about Dan Fogelberg.

I rarely do more than note the passing of an artist or musician. But every once in a while, I get a bit of a lump in my throat.

Elliott Smith did that to me a few years ago when I read of his untimely passing.

Last evening when I read that Dan Fogelberg died, I had that same feeling. I walked over to the piano and ran through some tunes I remembered, like Old Lang Syne and Scarecrow's Dream, Looking for a Lady and Dancing Shoes.

Fogelberg's earlier stuff - up through the time he made Old Lang Syne - was so pretty and his lyrics were, as you've stated, pithy and wrongly undervalued.

I really feel I've lost a friend.

[GuiltyUndertaker]

Dan Fogelberg was nothing more than a better looking version of John Denver who could sing better. His songs were the same saccarine dreck as Denver's.

[Jaime24]

Since hearing about Dan's passing, I have read several observations/commentaries about his legacy, and up till now have not really seen anything that captured the impact Dan music had on many of us. Scott Mehno does that and then some. Thanks Dan and thank you Scott for letting us connect with your feelings with someone we both have come love as an artist.

[lightison]

For my two daughters (4 & 8 yrs old) the verse "...She went to hug me and she spilled her purse and we laughed and until we cried"..would create a riotous laughter from them..."Run for the Rose" was another of their favorites for love of horses.

Dan Fogelberg's music,lyrics and sensibilities has been such a transforming experience for me....I took an interest in acoustic guitar music and I actually started playing acoustic guitar. I also took an interest in poetry and eventually it gave way to a passion that I had developed for prose and poetry sans Denis Leary.

Thanks so much Scott for your wonderful aesthetic post to Fogelberg's Auld Lang Syne.

RIP Dan...

[BeerHolder]

That is truly one of his greatest songs and one that will forever remain a Christmas Classic. Dan was one of the greatest song writers of the 20th Century as good as or better than the likes of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and the rest. Now days it seems like people just don't have the patience to discover someone like Dan because they might have to think about things too much. Anymore sex sells music more than artistry does. Beyonce anyone?

I would have been lost without Dan's music. It kept me sane through my youth and inspired me to work harder at my music and my career. There are no more Dan Fogelberg's on the horizon. There will never be another one like him. May you rest in peace Dan.

[langh318]

Scott, As always, your words are both poignant, fresh and insightful. While paying tribute to a largely mediocre couple-song-wonder, you still managed to put into words that we can be moved to another place, (life)time by music and the written word. You also express how a life can be so divided into segments by time and events. Im eagerly looking forward to your next post.

[Charity]

i am so sorry to have heard of dan's passing. how sad for his family and for those of us who grew right along with dan's songs as he wrote them.

how odd that dan was in my thoughts a few nights ago as i drove home from work. i was listening to a "classic" rock station and up came "leader of the band." i'd not heard it in years, and it sent me off reflecting on when i first heard the song and how dan had written it as an homage to his dad - a high school band teacher.

i sang the refrain along with dan:

"The leader of the band is tired
And his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through
My instrument
And his song is in my soul --
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band
I am the living legacy
To the leader of the band."
-----
it brought tears to my eyes as i sang along because it always brought tears to my eyes - written when sentimental tributes to fathers were not likely to be found in popular music.

and today, there are tears in my eyes because dan fogelberg has passed on, leaving a body of work that stands as an eternal living legacy.

============

[illini67]

Unlike many who will post on this blog, my memories of Dan go back to our time at the University of Illinois, the Red Herring, and the incredible social, political and cultural changes our society, and my generation, were going through at that time.
Dan had a talent many of us lacked, a social and political passion many of us shared for justice, peace and the environment, and had an incredible ability to convey to words and music what many of us felt but could not express.
Many will reflect on several of his songs, and rightly so, but take the time look at the entirety of his lyrics and consider what life experiences you have had and how aptly he probably expresses the sentiments and feelings you probably felt, but were unable to put in to words.
Although his career and mine went in radically different directions since those years at the U of I, I can relate in many ways to the life experiences he wrote and sang so eloquently of. I only wish that I had half the ability Dan had to convey those thoughts, feelings and hopes.
I am a better person to have known Dan, however slightly, so many years ago and to have had the privilege to listen to his music for these many years and can continue to do so.
Rest in peace, Dan.

[Babylonian]

I suppose one positive associated with writing ballads is that your fans tend to be quite literate.

[bodhibabe]

Dan was my first "love" read: teenage obsession in 1973.

Dan, thank you so much for sharing your talent. You will be missed.

"I have these moments all steady and strong
I'm feeling so holy and humble.
The next thing I know I'm all worried and weak
And I feel myself starting to crumble
The meanings get lost and the teachings get tossed And you don't know what you're going to do next You wait for the sun but it never quite comes Some kind of message comes through to you
Some kind of message comes through
And it says to you...
(Chorus)
Love when you can
Cry when you have to
Be who you must
That's a part of the plan
Await your arrival with simple survival
And one day we'll all understand
One day we'll all understand
One day we'll all understand"


~Tennessee 1973~

[pitstop]

Amazing insight on how the meaning of a song can suddenly deepen with the passing of time. Dan Fogelberg's music along with artists like America, Bread, and others of the soft rock genre are clearly worth a second listen, you never know what you might find. Tis the season for reflection!

[lm1951]

Thank you, Scott, for a moving tribute to both a beautiful song & songwriter. I have been a Dan Fogelberg fan since the mid-70s. I am always moved whenever I hear "Same Auld Lang Syne", but never so much as when I heard Dan sing this song in concert - just him sitting on a wooden chair playing his acoustic guitar. It was over 10 years ago, but my eyes still fill with tears whenever I think of that experience. I had been praying for Dan's recovery but, sadly, it was not to be. I know he is now singing with the angels.
Thanks, Dan, for enriching my life with your words & music.