Dan Fogelberg<\/a> first recorded the song \u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d for the 1979 album Phoenix. Feeling it wasn\u2019t a good fit then, he held it back until the 1981 release of the double album The Innocent Age. Fogelberg was pleasantly surprised when this deeply personal song became a hit, reaching No. 9 on the pop charts.<\/p>\nPart of the reason that the song\u2019s success elated Fogelberg was that it brought attention to the protagonist of the lyrics. \u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d served as the singer\u2019s way of paying tribute to his father.<\/p>\n
Lawrence Fogelberg, a local band conductor and music teacher for high schools and colleges in Illinois, instilled his love of music in his son. But more than that, he supported his son, even when he didn\u2019t necessarily agree with him. That was the case when the younger Fogelberg decided to quit college in order to pursue music full-time.<\/p>\n
While the song can seem like a requiem, \u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d actually arrived while Lawrence Fogelberg was still living. He relished the attention brought by the song, gladly giving interviews about it before he passed away in 1982.<\/p>\n
Behind the Lyrics of \u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d<\/p>\n
Fogelberg begins the song by offering some details of his father\u2019s life. But he occasionally interjects with observations of his dad\u2019s character. For example, he notes, \u201cHis gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand.\u201d One of those souls, of course, was the younger Fogelberg: \u201cAnd he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the third verse, Dan explains how he and his brothers have scattered across the country, all propelled by the influence of their father. With all the exposition out of the way, he\u2019s free in the final verse to say all the things he needs to say before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank you for the music,\u201d Dan sings in a fitting start to the gratitude section. \u201cI thank you for the freedom,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen it came my time to go.\u201d He makes sure to leave the most important observation for last. \u201cAnd, Papa, I don\u2019t think I said \u2018I love you\u2019 near enough,\u201d he surmises.<\/p>\n
The refrain references the fact that time is running short for his hero, even as his impact persists: \u201cBut his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul.\u201d Dan Fogelberg then wraps it up with a moving conclusion. \u201cMy life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man,\u201d he sings. \u201cI\u2019m just a living legacy to the leader of the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeader Of The Band\u201d works as a very specific epistle in song from a son to a father. But Dan Fogelberg\u2019s skill renders it universal, the ideal message of reciprocal love from kids to parents who\u2019ve given them so much.<\/p>\n
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of pop music focuses on the generation gap, how kids are trying to forge a path different…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":770685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[316006,171,975,137824,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-770684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-dan-fogelberg","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-singer-songwriter","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116511427097944896","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}