Songs of the season

Photo by Henry Dilz
The holiday season brings out all the traditional symbols including all the music you only hear during this time of year. My head and heart have been full of songs but not "Silent Night," I'll Be Home For Christmas," or..., well you know them all. Instead, I'm hearing all the songs of Dan Folgelberg, the singer and songwriter who produced twenty great albums from 1972 to 2003. The leader of the "soft rock" generation died last Sunday at his home after battling prostate cancer. He was 56. I've been playing all his songs constantly for the past few days to hear the quiet simplicity of his voice and the eloquent lyrics that still choke me up. I'm saddened again as I was when other music artists I've enjoyed over the years have died too early: John Lennon, George Harrison, Jim Croce, John Denver and Kate Wolf. I wanted to hear them write and sing about the changes in their lives as they got older and wiser in order to help me along my own aging path. What we are left with though is no small gift. The music of Dan Fogelberg and all the past great artists is there to hear anytime and the truths in the songs will not change. Unfortunately, there is no season especially for the musicians I think of as kindred souls. This year "fa la la la la" and "pa rumpa pa pum" don't resonate. I prefer this song in particular to describe this season of music for me:




"Only The Heart May Know," a duet with Emmylou Harris:

Silent sea
Tell this to me:
Where are the children that we used to be?
Silent sea:
At picture shows
Where nobody goes
And only the heart can see.
Starry skies
Soft lullabies
Where do they go when their melodies die?
Starry skies:
To a day
Far, far away
That only the heart may know.
Friends we knew
Follow us through
All of the days of our lives
Love we shared
Waits for us there
Where our wishes forever reside.
Falling tears
Memories' mirrors
Where are summers
Oh, where are the years?
Falling tears:
Carried far
To a wandering star
That only the heart may know.
Friends we knew
Follow us through
All of the days of our lives
Love we shared
Waits for us there
Where our wishes forever reside.
Starry skies
Soft lullabies
Where do they go when their melodies die?
To a day
Far, far away
That only the heart may know.

Thanks Dan.