The Regular Friday Post
Something for Christmas and the New Year....
Welcome to The Regular Friday post!
Since we’ll be we’ll be dark for the next couple of weeks for Christmas and the New Year, I have two “Songs To Play” this week, both favorites from years past and we’ll pick it up again with new stuff next year…
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The First “A Song To Play”:
From Chordify Link: Christmas For Cowboys
This says “Capo on Fret 3” - you can use the capo if you want to play in the same key as the original recording (since that probably fit Mr. Denver’s voice), or you can leave the capo off and play it using these chords - it’ll be different than the recording, but the intervals will be the same, and probably easier to sing.
It’s a pretty short song, but one I always liked, I hope you will, too…
From Genius Link: Christmas For Cowboys
Tall in the saddle, we spend Christmas Day, driving the cattle over snow sovered-plains
All of the good gifts given today, ours is the sky and the wide open range
Back in the cities they have different ways, football and eggnog and Christmas Parades
I'll take my saddle, I'll take the reins, It's Christmas for cowboys wide-open plains
A campfire for warmth as we stop for the night, the stars overhead are Christmas tree lights
The wind sings a hymn as we bow down to pray, It's Christmas for cowboys, wide-open plains
Tall in the saddle we spend Christmas Day, driving the cattle over snow-covered plains
All of the good gifts given today, ours is the sky and the wide open range
It's Christmas for cowboys, wide open plains
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Since we’ll be dark for the next couple of weeks, I’m including another song; my favorite for this time of year. Even though the song tells a true story about Mr. Fogelberg’s chance meeting with an old flame on Christmas Eve, it always sounded more like it fit a New Year’s Eve story to me.
Plus I just love the backstory…..Your mileage may vary…
Link to Wikipedia article: Same Old Lang Syne
From Wikipedia: “As Fogelberg said on his official website, the song was autobiographical.[4] He was visiting his parents for Christmas at the family home in Peoria, Illinois, in 1975 when he ran into an old girlfriend from Woodruff High School, the former Jill Anderson[5] at the “Convenient Food Mart” (now a convenience store) on Abington Street Hill. Fogelberg stated in interviews that he did not recall precisely whether the chance meeting with his ex-girlfriend was in 1975 or 1976, though he leaned toward 1975; this was later confirmed.
In 2006, Fogelberg received a letter from a young fan named Grace Ferguson who asked him about the meaning of the song’s final lyric, “And as I turned to make my way back home / The snow turned into rain”. The lyric has often been interpreted metaphorically as the world feeling warmer after he had talked with his ex-girlfriend. In reply, Fogelberg acknowledged this metaphor as “wonderful”, although, as he wrote, “as I drove home, the snow actually DID turn from snow into rain!”.[6]
After Fogelberg’s death from prostate cancer in 2007, the woman in the song, Jill Anderson Greulich, came forward with her story. Greulich told of how she and Fogelberg dated in high school. As she explained to the Peoria Journal Star in an article dated December 22, 2007, the pair knew each other in Peoria, Illinois as part of the Woodruff High School class of 1969. After graduation, each attended different colleges. Following college, Greulich married and moved to Chicago, while Fogelberg moved to Colorado to pursue a music career. While back in Peoria visiting their respective families for Christmas in 1975, Fogelberg and Greulich ran into each other on Christmas Eve at a convenience store located at 1302 East Frye Avenue in the Abington Hill district. Greulich confirmed that they bought a six-pack of beer and drank it in her car for two hours while they talked. Five years later, after the song was released, Greulich heard it on the radio for the first time while driving to work but kept quiet, as Fogelberg had not disclosed her identity. She stated that her reason for remaining quiet about her involvement in the song’s narrative was that coming forward might have disrupted Fogelberg’s marriage.[7]
Greulich noted that Fogelberg had taken artistic license with two details of the story: her eyes are green, not blue, and her husband was a physical education teacher, not an architect. In regard to the line, “She would have liked to say she loved the man, but she didn’t like to lie,” Greulich will not talk about it, but by the time of the song’s release in 1980, she and her husband had divorced.”
From Genius Link: Same Old Lang Syne
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totaled up and bagged
We stood there, lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged
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
[Chorus]
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how
Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Chorus]
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"
[Verse 5]
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
[Saxophone plays "Auld Lang Syne"]
The “ME!” Section
My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify
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Disclaimer Section
This Substack is free, I receive no compensation of any kind from companies or products I mention (except when you click on one of the links above for my song - then I might make 0.003 cents - yes 3/1000ths of a cent… just sayin…). Some linked or quoted material may be copyrighted by others, and I credit them. I rely on the “Fair Use” doctrine for educational purposes (Link: Fair Use). *I do not use AI for any of the text that’s found here, things I embed or link to (such as some images) might…
-Michael Acoustic
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This Week’s Conversation With Mika, The Cat:
Mika: “Human, I’m ready for my long winter’s nap…”
Me: “I’ll fetch your kerchief and cap…..”
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic
“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”
That Dan Fogelberg song always gets me. Thanks for providing the backstory, Michael.
Haven't hear that John Denver song before. Very sweet! Imagine the music he and Dan Fogelberg could have still made it they were alive today,