Friday, December 28th 2007
Like An Old Friend
When I walked into my local coffee shop the other morning “Same Ole Layne Syne” by Dan Folgerberg was playing. It reminded me that he left this Earth last week. Mara called me the day after to ask me if I had heard. I had not and was devastated by the news. I was glad it was her as Mara and I have been through a lot together – like August 18, the day Jerry Garcia died. Even though we only ever went to one show we lived the life of Gratefully Deadicated, barefoot, pot smoking, acid dropping hippies 20 years too late. Dan did not represent a movement or provide the soundtrack for a generation, but he represented a time for me and Mara that was simple and innocent; our formative years.
Dan Fogelberg was part of my world before I was part of this world. He blared from ma’s 8 Track during my time in the womb and while I sat sucking strained peas from a yellow Pyrex bowl. Even when I started to wear ripped flannel and eye liner Dan Folgelberg, Jackson Browne, Gordon Lightfoot and the like remained in my cassette bag next to Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots and Concrete Blonde. There was a station in Cleveland, Ohio called WDOK, 102.1. It was our favorite station; Mara and I used to call Nancy Alden, Cleveland’s Lady in Red, and dedicate songs to each other all the time. Ma listened to that station religiously and it was the backdrop of being with her at home or in the car. Every corner of my childhood was accompanied by the sounds of AM Gold and the 70’s.
Mara and I would sit in the park and many times Dan would be playing from the Skiv and some of our hippie friends would cock a curious head. It wasn’t usual to hear something blaring other than the Dead, Buffalo Springfield or Janis. Amazingly there were quite a few that did not recognize Dan and his soothing, melodic music that Mara and I had come to love.
We got older and exchanged our shag throw rugs, flip flops and KB’s for Keds, checking accounts and coffee shops. Our lives were very different, yet Dan’s music provided a familiar sound to alleviate the stress from our new, unfamiliar way of living.
Soon Dan and his music would accompany me on a difficult journey. My father died of cancer and at the close of his funeral, I chose “Leader of the Band” to play. It was absolutely the most perfect song for my Dad. To this day when I hear that song I stop, close my eyes and say “Hi Dad”; I somehow think that that was what Dan was saying.
That music has been with me for my entire life. No other artist has been so closely associated with so many aspects of my experience and I can’t help but feel as though I’ve lost something. Although he is not of this Earth he lives here with Mara and me, an arms reach and USB cord away.
Download Same Ole Layne Syne
I’ve been a fan of Dan’s (or Dan Fogerburp, as Opus would say) since I was a pup. The smooth, simple clarity of his voice, and his ability to infuse each note with emotion, made him one of my favorite vocalists. My sister still makes fun of me because “Run For The Roses” *always* makes me cry.
Anyway, lovely tribute, Johnny. ::hearts::
I’m glad to hear that you’re another man touched by Fogelberg’s loving talent. He’s one of the few “Divo’s” that have inspired me and helped to give me an aural landscape through which I could understand my emotional life.
We Queers can so easily find release and emotional connection through the heart-felt singing of a popular female artist (Madge, Anastacia, Jennfers Holliday & Hudson, Fantasia, etc.) How rare and wonderful it is to find cultural emotional connection with the work of a Male Singer, of which Dan was one of the finest.
Rest Well until the Next Time ‘Round. You did us all well with your Art.
Peace, Pleasure, and The Pursuit of Happiness!
D. J. Perez
Metro Boston, MA
Thanks for the MP3. Amazing song with a great narrative. I pride myself on my knowledge of ’70’s soft rock balladeers, so I was surprised to discover I had never heard of this guy. These days it’s all too rare that you hear a well-crafted pop song that tells a story like this. We live in an age where music has to be dripping with irony, sex, overwrought production and gimmicks to be marketable. And yeah, I’m not going to lie, I love it. But that’s why I’m thankful that there are still artists like Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens and a handful of others that allow a contemplative escape to the popular swill that I gobble up like candy.
Looking forward to checking out Dan Folgerberg’s back catalogue on I-Tunes Later. Thanx Johnny!