Dan Fogelberg - Forefathers

Dedicated to Jean Fogelberg

Studio version of Forefathers from The Wild Places CD - 1990. Timothy B. Schmit, David Crosby and Russ Kunkel were a few of the notables on the CD

This was a collaborative effort with LessonsLearned85 who also made the request for the video. Thanks Kevin.

Photographs are from "our forefathers", the early immigrants. It seems fitting to post this great Dan tune on this Labor Day Holiday weekend in tribute to the brave men and women who came to North America in pursuit of a better life and happiness.

There are 2 photographs in the video that were taken by Dan who was an avid photographer :)

The last pic is Designed by Jean Fogelberg exclusively for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. You can purchase your pin at prostatecancerfoundation.org. Information about the pin is also at http://www.danfogelberg.com/news.html

The symbolism of the design:

~ The Scottish sword - Dan was half Scots-Irish (as many of you know, his mother was born in Scotland); he fought a valiant battle against cancer; and he was my knight in shining armor (and apparently, many of you felt the same way).

~ The Fleur-de-lis (flower of life) was used in Scottish heraldry, and is said to symbolize many things, but among them: purity, light, life, and hope.

~ The guitar is a rendering of one of Dan's favorite Stratocasters, used on stage over many years.

~ Deep forest green and gold were Dan's favorite color combination.


Forefathers

They came from Scandinavia, the land of midnight sun
And crossed the North Atlantic when this century was young
They'd heard that in America every man was free
To live the way he chose to live and be who he could be
Some of them were farmers there and tilled the frozen soil
But all they got was poverty for all their earnest toil
They say one was a sailor who sailed the wide world round
Made home port, got drunk one night, walked off the pier and drowned
My mother was of Scottish blood, it's there that she was born
They brought her to America in 1924
They left behind the highlands and the heather-covered hills
And came to find America with broad expectant dreams and iron wills
My granddad worked the steel mills of central Illinois
His daughter was his jewel, his son was just his boy
For thirty years he worked the mills and stoked the coke-fed fires
And looked toward the day when he'd at last turn 65 and could retire
(Chorus)
And the sons become the fathers and their daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand
And we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander, the lineage survives
And all of us, from dust to dust, we all become forefathers by and by
The woman and the man were wed just after the war
And they settled in this river town and three fine sons she bore
One became a lawyer and one fine pictures drew
And one became this lonely soul who sits here now
And sings this song to you
(Chorus)
By and By By and By