HARD TO SAY by Dan Fogelberg [1981]

Lucky at love, well, maybe so

There's still a lot of things

You'll never know

Like why each time

The sky begins to snow

You cry

You're faithful to her

In your careless way

And so you miss her

When she's far away

But every time you think

You've got it straight

You fall

You face the future

With a weary past

Those dreams you banked upon

Are fading fast

You know you love her

But it may not last

You fear

It's never easy

And it's never clear

Who's to navigate

And who's to steer

So you flounder

Drifting ever near the rocks

It's hard to say

Where love went wrong

It's hard to say just when

(It's so hard to say)

It's hard to walk away from love

It may never come again

You do your best to

Keep your hand in play

And try to keep those

Lonesome blues at bay

You think you're winning

But it`s hard to say sometimes

It's hard to say

Where love went wrong

It's hard to say just when

(It's so hard to say)

It's hard to walk away from love

It may never come again

Lucky at love, well, maybe so

There's still a lot of things

You'll never know

Like why each time

The sky begins to snow

You cry

You cry

Ooh, you still have to cry

Written by Dan Fogelberg.

LEADER OF THE BAND by Dan Fogelberg

An only child alone and wild

A cab'net maker's son

His hands were meant for diff'rent work

And his heart was known to none

He left his home and went his lone and solitary way

And he gave to me a gift

I know I never can repay

A quiet man of music

Denied a simpler fate

He tried to be a soldier once

But his music wouldn't wait

He earned his love thru' discipline

A thund'ring velvet hand

His gentle means of sculpting souls

Took me years to understand

The leader of the band

Is tired and his eyes are growing old

But his blood runs thru' 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

My brothers' lives were diff'rent

For they heard another call

One went to Chicago and the other to St. Paul

And I'm in Colorado

When I'm not in some hotel

Living out this life I've chose

And come to know so well

I thank you for the music

And your stories of the road

I thank you for the freedom

When it came my time to go

I thank you for the kindness

And the times when you got tough

And papa I don't think I said "I love you" near enough

The leader of the band

Is tired and his eyes are growing old

But his blood runs thru' 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

Written by Dan Fogelberg.
The single peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

SAME OLD LANG SYNE by Dan 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 groc'ries to the check-out 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

We 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

We 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

Written by Dan Fogelberg

Track from "The Innocent Age"