:: Apparently the song "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg has become a Christmas staple, even though the song doesn't really have much at all to do with Christmas aside from the song's setting at Christmas time, and the quote of "Auld Lang Syne" at the very end. The song tells the story of how the narrator (Fogelberg) ran into an old lover, purely by chance, in a convenience store one Christmas Eve, and then spent an hour or two with her, reminiscing on their time together, before parting again. I don't recall hearing it much before this year's Christmas season, when I heard it quite a bit. I think it's a very fine song, wonderfully effective with poignant and poetic lyrics. Here's the song:
What I found interesting about this song is that it's true, and after Fogelberg's death some years ago, the woman in the song came forward. It's a fascinating story.
:: Yes, I do use some of these quotes in regular everyday conversation.
:: Oh, come on!
More next week, hopefully...yeah, probably. Sure, why not.
5 comments:
Ah, "Same Old Lang Syne," one of my favorite songs and the thematic inspiration for a number of short stories I wrote in my younger, first-love-is-leaving-me days.
I'm a little confused, though... when you say you "don't recall hearing it much before this year's Christmas season," does that mean you don't remember hearing it much recently, or that you weren't familiar with the song until this year? If it's the latter, I'm surprised, because it used to run on the radio a lot in my area. But perhaps this is a case where, ahem, having a couple of years on you makes the difference. Seems like there's a pretty narrow age-based window for being aware or oblivious of certain pop culture...
I stopped listening to those radio Christmas music extraganzas because they would always play the same 20 songs every other day. One of them, which they tended to hold for the week before Christmas, was always Same Old Lang Syne"
Re; the fact you actually use Star Wars quotes: #1.
I think that part of the reason "SOLS" has become (or seemed) more prominent is that Dan died in December 2007, at the height of the Christmas-music-on-the-radio season. The song got a lot of memorial airplay then (kind of a two-for-one deal for radio folks), and it then seems to have stuck around.
I, for one, would rather hear that than many of the more obvious holiday tunes we get in December (and November) each year.
One guy's opinion.
I guess I'm listening to the wrong radio stations because I haven't noticed it that much. Then again I don't listen to the radio as often as I used to.
But I'm glad to see you didn't go the traditional "snarky blogger making fun of the sentimental song" route that's become so fashionable on the Net these days.
I haven't heard it in years, but it was a fascinating article, thanks!
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