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Same Old Lang Syne

"Same Old Lang Syne"
Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg.jpg
Single by Dan Fogelberg
from the album The Innocent Age
B-side "Hearts and Crafts"
Released December 1980
Format 7" single
Genre Soft rock
Length 5:18
Label Full Moon
Writer(s) Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg singles chronology
"Heart Hotels" (1980) "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980) "Hard to Say" (1981)

"Same Old Lang Syne" is a song written and sung by Dan Fogelberg released as a single in 1980. It was also included on his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song is an autobiographical narrative ballad told in the first person and tells the story of two long-ago romantic interests meeting by chance in a grocery store on Christmas Eve. The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and is now frequently played during the holiday season and alongside traditional Christmas songs.

The narrator is reunited with an old flame at a grocery store on a snowy Christmas Eve. She doesn't recognize him at first glance and when the two reach to embrace, she drops her purse causing them to laugh until they cry; this moment foreshadows a bittersweet departure. They eventually decide to have a drink somewhere, but are unable to find any open bar. Settling on a six-pack purchased at a liquor store, they proceed to drink it in her car while they talk.

The pair toast innocence of the past as well as the present, all framed in the song's chorus. The subsequent verse describes the two pushing through their initial awkwardness and discussing their current lives. The lover went on to marry an architect and is seemingly content with her life, though it is implied that she married for security instead of love. The narrator then says that as a musician he loves performing but hates touring.

There were three toasts (two people, six cans of beer) - two toasts to 'innocence and now', and a third toast to 'innocence and time'. After a third toast, the conversation runs its course. They exchange their goodbyes and the woman kisses him before he gets out of the car. As she drives away, the narrator contemplates the good times they'd had long ago, hence the meaning and reference to the song's title: Old Lang Syne. At the song's most bittersweet moment, the narrator experiences yet another "old lang syne," as he is reunited with "that old familiar pain" possibly from their break-up at an earlier time in their lives. Alternatively, the "old familiar pain" could reference the agony high school lovers often experience when they have to end the evening and go home. The snow that surrounds him then turns to rain, signifying a happy time turned quite melancholy.


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