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Release Date - May 1977, Full Moon/Epic
Producer - Dan Fogelberg and Norbert Putnam
Engineer - John Stronach
Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

All compositions by Daniel Fogelberg, copyright 1977 by Hickory Grove Music (ASCAP)
Certified - Double Platinum
Recorded at - Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO; The Record Plant, Los Angeles; Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Nashville; The Record Plant, Sausalito; North Star Studios, Boulder
Painting by - Dan Fogelberg
Photography - Andy Katz (Boulder, Colorado)
Album Design - Kosh
Notes - 

Lyrics

Nether Lands

High on this mountain
The clouds down below
I'm feeling so strong and alive
From this rocky perch
I'll continue to search
For the wind
And the snow
And the sky
I want a lover
I want some friends
And I want to live in the sun
And I want to do all the things that I
never have done.

Sunny bright mornings
And pale moonlit nights
Keep me from feeling alone
Now, I'm learning to fly
And this freedom is like
Nothing that I've ever known
I've seen the bottom
And I've been on top
But mostly I've lived in between
And where do you go
When you get to the end of
your dream?

Off in the nether lands
I heard a sound
Like the beating of heavenly wings
And deep in my brain
I can hear a refrain
Of my soul as she rises and sings
Anthems to glory and
Anthems to love and
Hymns filled with early delight
Like the songs that the darkness
Composes to worship the light.

Once in a vision
I came on some woods
And stood at a fork in the road
My choices were clear
Yet I froze with the fear
Of not knowing which way to go
One road was simple
Acceptance of life
The other road offered sweet peace
When I made my decision
My vision became my release.

Back

Once Upon A Time

Every morning you wake up alone
And you shake up your soul
But nothing stirs
So you take the love of whoever
you please
But you can't find no reason
For giving yours.

'Cause, once upon a time
You held a love so strong and fine
That all the others simply don't compare
She's always on your mind
But once upon a time
You had her there.

Drive into town 'most every night
On the chance that there might be someone
Waiting for you
You tell yourself you'll
Give it your best
Maybe settle for less
But you never do.

'Cause, once upon a time
You held a love so strong and fine
That all the others simply don't compare
She's always on your mind
But once upon a time
You had her there.

Every morning you wake up alone
And you shake up your soul
But nothing stirs
So you take the love of whoever
you please
But you can't find no reason
For giving yours.

'Cause, once upon a time
You held a love so strong and fine
That all the others simply don't compare
She's always on your mind
But once upon a time
You had her there.

Back

Dancing Shoes

Dancing shoes
On the wall above your bedside
Saw it all as we performed
our pirouette
Fleshes fused
As the flicker of the candles
Threw upon the wall a
single silhouette.

Tu es dan ma coeur et dans ma tŽte

Dancing shoes
We have loved on distant beaches
Where the winter never reaches
There we fell
Dying swan
On the dawn you danced before me
Though your eyes were dark and stormy
I stood still.

Qui peut dire le faux et le rŽel?

Dancing shoes
Though the distances divide us
There's a paradise inside us
We can't lose.
Me and you
Dance a 'pas de deux'
Forever
And I pray you never
Shed your dancing shoes.

Back

Lessons Learned

You
With the past at your back
And the future unsure
Asked
For the chance to try
Love once more.

Well aware of the consequences
Should the dream fall through
You threw down you last defenses
Wanting to try something new
Wanting to try something new.

You found me
In a sea of confusion
Drifting with the tide
Living
On love that had long since died.

But everytime that I touch you, baby
I feel a little more alive
And I'm reminded how much you've
made me
Believe in the love that survives
Believe in the love that survives.

Lessons learned are like
Bridges burned
You only need to cross them but once
Is the knowledge gained
Worth the price of the pain?
Are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?
Are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?

Borne
On the first warms winds of
Feelings newly found
Fly
But remember
Don't look down
Take as much as you think you ought to
Give just as much as you can
Don't forget what your failures have taught you
Or else you'll learn them all over again
Or else you'll have to learn them
All over again.

Lessons learned are like
Bridges burned
You only need to cross them but once
Is the knowledge gained
Worth the price of the pain?
Are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?
Are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?

Back

Loose Ends

Climbing a mountain
In darkness
Stranded alone on the ledge.
Every attempt that I make to hold on
Pushes me nearer the edge.

Sensing the changes impending
My thoughts are diffused by despair
I feel like I'm swimming straight up
Underwater
Desperately racing for air
I'm racing for air.

And the chords struck at birth
Grow more distant
Yet, we strike them again and again.
And we plead and we pray
For a glimmer of day
As the night folds its wings
And descends
Exposing the loose ends.

Surrounding myself with possessions
I surely have more than I need
I don't know if this is justice,
hard earned,
Or simply a matter of greed
A matter of greed.

And the chords struck at birth
Grow more distant
Yet, we strike them again and again.
And we plead and we pray
For a glimmer of day
As the night folds its wings
And descends...
Exposing the loose ends.

And the chords struck at birth
Grow more distant
Yet, we strike them again and again.
And we plead and we pray
For a glimmer of day
As the night folds its wings
And descends...
Exposing the loose ends.

Back

Love Gone By

Try your best to see through the
confusion
Seems the more you see
The less you try
You don't know what's real and what's
illusion
If you don't know by now then how
should I?

(I've been thinking 'bout the)
Love gone by
Honey, has the well run dry?
It's enough to make you cry
Thinking 'bout the love gone by.

Give me back my heart
And call it even
Ain't no use in figuring who's to blame
Once I thought this love was made in
heaven
Now I think it's just a crying shame.

(And I've been thinking 'bout the)
Love gone by
Honey, has the well run dry?
It's enough to make you cry
Thinking 'bout the love gone by.

Winners never know the worth of losing
'Til the prize has slipped right through
their hands
Love will take a heart of its own
choosing
And break it if you try to understand.

(We're left with nothing but the)
Love gone by
Honey, has the well run dry?
It's enough to make you cry
Thinking 'bout the love gone by.

Back

Promises Made

Promises made
Promises broken
Measures of our demise
Secrets of souls that
Rarely get spoken
Pleasure's a thin disguise.

Dozens of ways
Dozens of reasons
Shielding our hearts from pain
Riddles of romance
That distance may yet explain.

Certain of nothing
So fearful of love
Nobody seems to show you enough
Over and over
The scenes are replayed
And once again
Those promises made.

Feeling forsaken
Broken in two
How did this ever happen to you?
Taken for granted
Bruised and betrayed
Lonely survivors
These promises made.

Dozens of ways
Dozens of reasons
Shielding our hearts from pain
Riddles of romance
That distance may yet explain.

Certain of nothing
You're so damn fearful of love
Nobody seems to show you enough
Over and over
The scenes are replayed
And once again
Those promises made.

Back

Give Me Some Time

Slow down
Girl, what's the hurry?
Love can wait if you're worried
Then I'll try to ease your mind
You say we're losing time
But I've got to find
A way to convince you.

I've got cause to be wary
For so long I've had to carry
The weight of another soul
You say I won't let go
But how do you know I can?

Give me some time now
I've just got to find how
I'm going to forget her
And talk myself into believing
That she and I are through
Then maybe I'll fall for you.

You're just
Just what I've needed
But I'd be
Unfair and conceited
To say you're the only one
Woman, I'm on the run
From something I have begun
And can't seem to finish.

Although it hasn't been recent
I still think it wouldn't be decent
To let you believe in me
So soon
I've got to make you see
What she meant to me
So please

Give me some time, now
I've just got to find how
I'm going to forget her
And talk myself into believing
That she and I are through
Then maybe I'll fall for you.

Back

Scarecrow's Dream

Seldom seen
A scarecrow's dream
I hang in the hopes of replacement
Castles tall
I built them all
But I dream that I'm trapped in
the basement.

And if you ever hear me calling out
And if you've been by paupers crowned
Between the worlds of men and
make-believe
I can be found.

Plans I've made
A masquerade
Fading in fear of the coming day
Heroes' tales
Like nightingales
Wrestle the wind as they run away.

And if you ever hear them calling out
And if you've been by paupers crowned
Between the worlds of men and make-
believe
I can be found.

Garden gate
An empty plate
Waiting for someone to come and fill
Scarecrow's dreams
Like frozen streams
Thirst for the fall
But they're running still.

And if you ever hear me calling out
And if you've been by paupers crowned
Between the worlds of men and
make-believe
I can be found.

Back

Sketches

a. Summer

Late in the summer
When the cottonwood dies
The fields are on fire
With green bottleflies
And I'm still seeing reflections
Of me in your eyes
And why did you leave
Last summer?

Now, the seasons are changing
From summer to fall
And I've still got that picture
Hung on my wall
And there's so much forgotten
And too much recalled
And why did you leave
At all?

b. Winter

Standing beside you
Mid-winter day
Hearts beating close
Together.

Wishing that we'd found
Someway to make
That moment last
Forever.

Standing silent--laughing--
Breathing steam
Gazing down into a freezing
stream...
I saw the face of a child
I saw the face of a child.

Back

False Faces

Oil on canvas
Couplets and stanzas
To divine who you are
Pencil portrayals and
Jealous betrayals
Get you further afar.

False faces and
Meaningless chases
I travel alone
First places and
Calendar races
I need a home.

Hostile hotel walls
Footfalls and phone calls
And you're on the line
Gentle coercions and
Bitter desertions
When the truth is a lie.

False faces and
Meaningless chases
I travel alone
First places and
Calendar races
I need a home.

Lover twice yearly
That last battle nearly
Cost me the fight.
Broke through the ice
And got cut down
to size
And escaped
through the night.

False faces and
Meaningless chases
I travel alone
First places and
Calendar races
I need a home.

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