DAN FOGELBERG - LEADER OF THE BAND

LEADER OF THE BAND

DAN FOGELBERG

SONGWRITER: DAN FOGELBERG

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THE INNOCENT AGE

LABEL: FULL MOON RECORDS

GENRE: FOLK ROCK

YEAR: 1981

 

       Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1980s songs, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and "Leader of the Band" (1982).

         "Leader of the Band" is a song written by Dan Fogelberg from his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song was written as a tribute to his father, Lawrence Fogelberg, a musician and the leader of a band, who was still alive at the time the song was released. Lawrence died in August 1982, but not before this hit song made him a celebrity with numerous media interviews interested in him as its inspiration.

        Released as a single at the end of 1981, the tribute peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1982. It became Fogelberg's second #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, following his 1980 hit "Longer".

An only child

Alone and wild

A cabinet maker's son

His hands were meant

For different 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

Through discipline

A thundering, 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 through

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

Different

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, pap, 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 through

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.