# Who or what comes to your mind when you hear "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan fogelberg? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995 "2017-12-21T14:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/41 "2017-12-27T23:32:07Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Judi L. (sigh) > > As for it being a holiday song, the second line in the song speaks of snow falling on Christmas Eve, “The snow was falling Christmas Eve.” So, yeah, Christmas. > > I like the song. It is a pretty tune. It is wistful. And I like Dan Fogelberg. He died 10 years ago at the young age of 56. Bummer. I didn’t realize that he had passed (or I had forgotten). I think that [Leader of the Band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsocZrEcp0Y) is his best work. It always makes me think of my dad, who is fortunately still living. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/42 "2017-12-28T01:30:32Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > In December 1975 in Colorado, maybe it wasn’t. As of 2015 (last time I checked) passengers in Connecticut could still drink in cars. In Mississippi, the driver can drink while driving as long as he or she stays below the legal BAC. [Here is an article](http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-connecticut-open-container-law-0223-20150301-story.html) from 2015 that mentions both. As for that song, it sucks donkey balls. The only thing it reminds me of is this Denis Leary bit: > [@](#): > > Heavy metal bands on trial because kids commit suicide? What is that about? Judas Priest on trial “because my kid bought the record, and listened to the lyrics, and he got into Satan…” Well, that’s great! That sets a legal precedent. Does that mean I can sue Dan Fogelberg for making me into a pussy in the mid-70’s? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/43 "2017-12-28T05:08:52Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Bummer. I didn’t realize that he had passed (or I had forgotten). I think that [Leader of the Band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsocZrEcp0Y) is his best work. It always makes me think of my dad, who is fortunately still living. It makes my wife cry because the song makes her think of her father, who is still living. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/44 "2017-12-28T05:36:06Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > As for that song, it sucks donkey balls. The only thing it reminds me of is this Denis Leary bit: > > > [@](#): > > > > Heavy metal bands on trial because kids commit suicide? What is that about? Judas Priest on trial “because my kid bought the record, and listened to the lyrics, and he got into Satan…” Well, that’s great! That sets a legal precedent. Does that mean I can sue Dan Fogelberg for making me into a pussy in the mid-70’s? Funny. It was the early 80s when he made me into a pussy. I liked his music. Still do. Even this song that you think sucks balls. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/45 "2017-12-28T14:53:39Z")
Though I don’t relate to the story in the song, and honestly, I don’t recall when I heard it for the first time, I think it’s gorgeous. I can picture the whole scene as the song goes on, like a little movie in my head. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/46 "2017-12-28T17:11:47Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > … > Which is a lot younger and a much shorter time frame than I always imagined for the characters in the song. > > I always sort of pictured a couple in their 30s or 40s who hadn’t seen each other for 5-10 years or so. And like most people you reconnect with from your past, it’s exciting and comforting to reconnect. But one you get caught up on the “what have you been doing for the past x years” conversation, there’s not a whole lot to talk about and you go back to your lives. > … This. The characters seemed older to me than young college kids reminiscing about a high school relationship. Then again, Fogelberg was writing a song to sell to the masses. The inspiration was autobiographical. That doesn’t mean the details have to be verbatim accurate. The characters in the song could easily be 30+ even though Fogelberg himself was 26ish when he bumped into his GF. My reaction? I was late in undergrad college at the time. Back then while it played incessantly it held a certain poignancy for me as I was about to graduate, set out across the country, and leave behind all the (few) women I’d been close to. So I could see myself having the same encounter in a few years. In those days I had a bit of a taste for schmaltz. Fast forward to now and the song triggers mostly nostalgia for the era when that song was current and the future was large and exciting and uncertain. Rather than the (I hope) smallish, simple, and predictable it is/will continue to be. And schmaltz isn’t nearly as good as it once was. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/47 "2017-12-28T19:37:54Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > What springs to mind for me is that it is illegal to drink beer, or have an open container of liquor, in a car. > > I haven’t seen any old girlfriends in years, but I would at least invite her to come home with me (if my wife was home). > > Regards, > Shodan It’s only illegal if you get caught 😉 I imagine they parked somewhere unobtrusive. In real life, I think he was in town visiting family. Might have been kind of awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995/48 "2017-12-28T22:15:22Z")
This may be blatantly obvious to some of you but I’ve been listening to this song for 37 years and just realized the song’s tune comes from the finale of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. > [@](#): > > The song, “Same Old Lang Syne” took over a year to write. The melody was a musical tip of the hat to Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”. > **[FAQs | Dan Fogelberg](https://www.danfogelberg.com/faqs)** > > The official Dan Fogelberg website. I thought the tune was kinda catchy. 🙂 ETA — it’s mentioned in post 21. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-same-old-lang-syne-by-dan-fogelberg/804995.md?page=2)