What Are Words For? (9/23)

[Railyn]

I may be here spotty this week. I'm roundin into the home stretch and need to get a lot of sewing done yet.

Anyway, I heard this song for the first time since the 80's today. I remembered how I always loved it. I'm not a huge fan of the artist (I tended to find his stuff a bit "heavy", lyrics wise - almost like there was too much to think about) and I've never been a huge fan of the singer/songwriter genre, but this is a well written song, and as I'm older, I can relate.

SAME OLD LANG SYNE
By: Dan Fogelberg
Album: The Innocent Age
Author: D Fogelberg

Met my old lover in the grocery store,
The snow was falling Christmas Eve.
I stole behind her in the frozen foods,
And I touched her on the sleeve.

She didn't recognize the face at first,
But then her eyes flew open wide.
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse,
And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand,
The food was totalled up and bagged.
We stood there lost in our embarrassment,
As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two,
But couldn't find an open bar.
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store,
And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to now.
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,
But neither one knew how.

She said she'd married her an architect,
Who kept her warm and safe and dry,
She would have liked to say she loved the man,
But she didn't like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her,
And that her eyes were still as blue.
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw,
Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores,
And that I must be doing well.
I said the audience was heavenly,
But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to now.
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,
But neither one knew how.
We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to time.
Reliving in our eloquence,
Another 'auld lang syne'......

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired,
And running out of things to say.
She gave a kiss to me as I got out,
And I watched her drive away.
Just for a moment I was back at school,
And felt that old familiar pain .........
And as I turned to make my way back home,
The snow turned into rain ..............

(thanks to http://www.danfogelberg.com)

My Opinion In A Nutshell: Who hasn't run into an old "someone" and wondered "what if"........

Favorite Line: "We drank a toast to innocence,
We drank a toast to now.
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness,
But neither one knew how"

[lora]

Wow, what beautiful lyrics. There's always that "what if" running around in everyone's heads, I think.

Favorite Lines: "She went to hug me and she spilled her purse,
And we laughed until we cried."

That lyric just seems so much like real life to me.

"She said she'd married her an architect,
Who kept her warm and safe and dry,
She would have liked to say she loved the man,
But she didn't like to lie."

Here's something that I know I'm afraid of: being married to someone while still loving someone else.

[H2IZCOOL]

I LOVE that song! It's #6 on my all time top 250. The message is pretty similar to that on Harry Chapin's "Taxi", and I like that one also. but I think Fogelberg actually pulls it off better -- if that's possible; Chapin was a master.

Same Old Lang Syne (love the title also) is different in that in this case, the narrator has apparently led a successful life, but can still think "I have all this, but could have had her too - especially where it's clear that she's living a lie"

But the main theme is that "you can never go back" - other than in your fantasies. If you try to, you'll find that you'll be "running out of things to say" and the snow will indeed turn to rain.

[Railyn]

Lora said:

Wow, what beautiful lyrics. There's always that "what if" running around in everyone's heads, I think.

Favorite Lines: "She went to hug me and she spilled her purse,
And we laughed until we cried."

That lyric just seems so much like real life to me.

"She said she'd married her an architect,
Who kept her warm and safe and dry,
She would have liked to say she loved the man,
But she didn't like to lie."

Here's something that I know I'm afraid of: being married to someone while still loving someone else.

Every now and again I'll run into someone I dated casually or had a crush on, and I'll get the butterflies for a second, but I try to remember there's a reason we stopped dating, etc. I only had one serious relationship (and in the grand scheme of things it wasn 't that incredibly serious) outside of my husband. We dated for 4 years. He asked me to marry him. I said no. I'm so glad I did. And even though you may be in love when you get married, people do change. It's been almost 9 years for me, and I can happily say mine changed for the better. It's hard work, and some people only want to get out, not put in. Ok, enough old married lady talk......

[Railyn]

H2IZCOOL said:

I LOVE that song! It's #6 on my all time top 250. The message is pretty similar to that on Harry Chapin's "Taxi", and I like that one also. but I think Fogelberg actually pulls it off better -- if that's possible; Chapin was a master.

Same Old Lang Syne (love the title also) is different in that in this case, the narrator has apparently led a successful life, but can still think "I have all this, but could have had her too - especially where it's clear that she's living a lie"

But the main theme is that "you can never go back" - other than in your fantasies. If you try to, you'll find that you'll be "running out of things to say" and the snow will indeed turn to rain.

You are so right. And I love Taxi too (it's one of the few of Harry's I like). But like you've said, it's fun for a little while, but the more things change the more they stay the same, and you can't go back and do it all over again. At least here, the path his life went was for the better.

I was trying to concentrate on editing orders yesterday, but I heard it come on and I cranked it. Good thing most people were gone. It's an almost-forgotten gem.

[KittyKat - RIP Luciano]

Definitely one of my all-time faves. When I wasn't as cynical as I am now, it used to get me a little verklempt thinking about past relationships etc.

It's really the only song of Dan's that I listen to these days. The radio stations around here only seem to play it around the holidays...which if you really think about it is kind of lame.

[Dawn]

This is a wonderful song, one of my favorites of Dan's, although it always makes me a little sad when I hear it. H2 is right - you can't really go back, because times and people change, but still, it's natural to wonder what could have been.

As with Kitty, the only time I hear this song on the radio is near the holidays.

[Railyn]

KittyKat said:

Definitely one of my all-time faves. When I wasn't as cynical as I am now, it used to get me a little verklempt thinking about past relationships etc.

It's really the only song of Dan's that I listen to these days. The radio stations around here only seem to play it around the holidays...which if you really think about it is kind of lame.

I saw that - when I was trying to find some info on it, I kept coming across lists of Christmas songs. There's another one that this happens to, but I can't think of it right now.

[Railyn]

Dawn said:

This is a wonderful song, one of my favorites of Dan's, although it always makes me a little sad when I hear it. H2 is right - you can't really go back, because times and people change, but still, it's natural to wonder what could have been.

As with Kitty, the only time I hear this song on the radio is near the holidays.

Hey Dawn - welcome back! It does kind of make you sad, but I always try to remember that things happen for a reason, and try to keep it in perspective. I heard it on Ultimate80s.com!