Same Old - - - -

GREAT CHRISTMAS SONGS - "1812 Overture" - a classic among classics - we can hear it almost anytime we attend a Pops in the Park concert, especially around Independence Day or Labor Day, when fireworks are scheduled. All of us, regardless of whether we ever took music lessons or a class in Music Appreciation, are familiar with the nine-note sequence played in conjunction with the setting off of the first fireworks. There is a low rumble or even a bang, a tympani or bass drum or low loud notes, followed by (1) nine notes played, (2)repeated, (3) played a step higher, then (4)repeated at the original level (a step back down), then the four steps are repeated but this time with the old Russian National Hymn being played simultaneously. By now, fireworks are exploding and the crowd is awing and being amazed by the thrill of it all, no matter how many times it has previously been experienced. I was in my fifties before I ever listened closely to, and analyzed in my amateur mind, the entire overture, not long after I read that Napster had been sued to shut down its free sharing of music. The next month or so was a busy time for me, downloading every song I ever wanted plus whatever else I came across that struck my fantasy. I was surprised at what I heard in the overture. Throughout, I could hear familiar themes, then I realized what Tchaikovsky had done with this work. I named each theme/movement in my mind, according to my limited knowledge of music and according to what I knew about European political history. When I decide to take the time, I must google it to see the actual designations.

All that to say this: Never once have I thought of the 1812 Overture as being a Christmas song.

In 1969, Dan Fogelberg left his home in Peoria to attend the University of Illinois in Champaign. After a time there, he went home to announce to his parents that he was dropping out of school to be a musician, and he and Irv Azoff (Eagles, REO Speedwagon, and others) drove to L.A. and lived in Irv's car for two weeks until they ran into Jackson Browne, J. D. Souther, and a bunch of guys who were going to one day become the Eagles. Then Dan moved to Kingston Springs, outside of Nashville, and recorded for awhile before returning to L.A. and, eventually, Colorado. Christmas Eve, 1975, found him back home in Peoria and his parents' house, and mama sent Dan to the convenience store for whipped cream. At the hilltop convenience store on what has since been honorarily designated "Fogelberg Parkway", Dan saw Jill Anderson, whom he had dated on and off throughout high school. They had not seen each other for six years.

Jill didn't see Dan. Dan quietly approached her, and, without speaking, touched her arm. Dan had grown a beard. Jill had never seen him with a beard. She didn't recognize his face, at first. When she did, she instinctively opened her arms to hug him, not mindful of the open-top purse, which slid off, spilling the contents.
They laughed. I always wondered whether, in Jill's purse, there were three cassette tapes which Dan saw when he knelt to assist her in gathering the spilled items. I have often imagined a music video which, at this point, shows a compact, lipstick, eye shadow, a small gift-wrapped package, along with the Home Free, Souvenirs, and Captured Angel cassettes. After visiting in Jill's car with a six-pack of beer (Olympia or Olympus - sorry I don't remember beer brands), they returned to their respective families, and Dan, with that particular movement of The 1812 Overture in his mind, "just fooling around at the piano", came up with the lyrics:


____C - D - E - D - C - D - E - C - C
"Met my old lover at the grocery store..."


Since the song lyrics include the term "Christmas Eve", this song gets heavy airplay around Christmas time. It is not a Christmas song. It works on Independence Day and Labor Day as well as on Christmas, yet every year, it appears to be the most-blogged song on the world-wide-web. No one is lukewarm about it. Some love it. Some despise it and decry its lack of Christmas content or something about its lyrics. I always tell those people they should talk to the deejays who choose to play it when they play it. I tell them that if they don't want to hear "Same Old Lang Syne" around the holidays, use the radio knobs or stay out of elevators and grocery stores. After Dan's release of his Christmas project, "The First Christmas Morning", a decade ago, I thought, "Finally! Now the deejays have some REAL Dan Christmas music to play!" but have they played it? Not on my stations. As Dan used to say, "Go figure." That project contains a song which is virtually indescribable in its content, quality and feeling. One must simply listen to it and be overcome, as was I and as was everyone -- everyone -- who has told me about their experience.

So far, I have declined to ruin anyone's experience by telling them, in advance, which song is so moving. When you get there, you'll know. And don't read my next blog until you experience the project, because in my next blog, I will write about my top five Christmas songs.

Listen to the project alone, when there is no t.v., no phone, no romping children. And be prepared to experience a feeling you'll never forget.