"The leader of the band is tired"

"Leader of the Band" is the song that Dan Fogelberg wrote to honor his father. But Dan can now talk directly to his father, as Dan Fogelberg lost his battle with cancer on Sunday, December 16 at the age of 56, just three years after discovering he had advanced prostate cancer. I've always loved Dan Fogelberg's music. It was something about the combination of the tone and feel of the music and his amazing, soothing voice.

Whether it's a song about deep, abiding love ("Longer") or love gone wrong ("Hard to Say"), you could feel every word that Dan was singing. You could even feel the caress of his voice when he sang about horses.

Yep, horses. "Run For The Roses" was a song that I loved, but for whatever reason, even though I knew the words, I guess for the longest time, I didn't really pay attention to exactly what I was singing. Great for a guy whose lyric-writing ability I claim to love, huh? (Yeah, ok, so I'm lame. But I also sang Rod Stewart's "Young Turks" umpteen times before the full significance hit me of what exactly it meant for Patty to give birth to a 10 pound baby boy!) But as I actually paid attention to what he had written on this song, I learned that it was an amazing tribute to the horses that run the Kentucky Derby.

But the song that Dan Fogelberg is probably most know for is "Same Old Lang Syne". It's played a lot at the end of the year, for obvious reasons, but you'll also hear it at other times, on certain stations. I've always loved story songs when they tell a great story, and the story that Dan tells in this song is amazingly vivid. (And, yes, Dan has confirmed that the events of the song actually happened.) For me, it's not any one thing about the song that gets to me, bringing me to the brink of, and even past, tears. It's the melody, the honesty of their exchange, the moment captured in time, the bittersweet chance meeting and the feeling that Dan conveys with his amazing voice.

OK, I had no idea that Bean of Kevin and Bean wrote about Dan Fogelberg today as well. Here's a direct link to that particular blog entry, which has an embedded link to play the song "Same Old Lang Syne".


Growing up in Los Angeles, I'd seen the periodic ads that would appear in the newspaper announcing his various tours that came around, and it would occur to me to go. And I didn't. And life went on. A few years ago, I found out that a very good friend also liked his music and had had the opportunity to see him a few times on his acoustic tours. And I decided that on his next trip nearby, I'd go. And that was when he announced that he was going to stop touring because he'd been diagnosed with cancer. And I regret never having taken advantage of the opportunity to have seen him live in concert.


My condolences and best wishes go out to his wife and family.


Here's the official website for Dan Fogelberg, which includes lots of good information, as well as a link to where good wishes, prayers and condolences can be posted.


"And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned in to rain..."