A couple of
weeks ago I was in need of repainting my front porch. It was that time again
and had probably been that time for more than 2 years. None the less I was
taking charge and giving my deck a facelift. I gathered the necessary tools; paint
brushes, roller trays, rags and paint stirrers. The weather was so nice and I knew I was in
for a long afternoon so I asked my daughter if I could borrow her MP3 speaker so
I could enjoy some music while painting. I knew it would help keep my mind of
the mundane task at hand and keep me entertained for a while. Thankfully she
agreed and so armed with music I headed off to do my chore.
As I
scrolled through my mp3 player, I saw that I had over 1000 songs stored on my MP3 player. Decisions,
decisions! What should I listen to? What style? What was going to help me the
most in completing my task? After all, what music I was going to listen to
was obviously more important to me than getting right to work. I had my
priorities, you know. Then I noticed that my mp3 player had a “shuffle songs” option I
hadn't noticed before. It was a function that would randomly select from the songs
stored on my mp3 player.
After a while
of painting, a song started playing called “The Reach” by Dan Fogelberg. The Reach was released
on Fogelberg’s 1981 album titled “The Innocent Age.” I had owned this album
years ago and although the song sounded a bit familiar it had pretty much been lost to my
memory. The album was released when I was a senior in high school, or in other words back in
the days when I wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life as
sometimes I still do.
Even though I was a confused teenager, music was very
much a part of my life. I was a big fan of acoustic singer/songwriters so Dan’s
music was right up my alley. He was a very crafty versatile songwriter and I
enjoyed all of his music. Dan had seen a meteoric rise in fame just a few years
before with the release of his mega hit “Longer”. With him at the height of his
popularity, he became introspective of the fact he was turning 30 and he wanted
show it through his music. I didn’t know it then but it seems in retrospect
that Dan was to become the last in a great line of 70’s male singer songwriters
that would soon move over for hair bands and punk rockers.
The Reach
was never released as a single and I doubt got any radio play. It was simply
the last song on side 3 of a double album and probably went largely unnoticed
by anyone other than Dan’s best fans. Maybe it was
all in the timing, hearing the song now, verses hearing it in my youth that
made me stop and take notice of the song as it came pouring out of the mp3 player.
The melody grabbed me from the first note. The orchestration made the hair on
my arms stand up and the lyrics pierced my soul. I could count on one hand the
number of times a song had moved me in such a way.
As I stood
there in awe of the song, I couldn’t help but think that there was something more
for me in this song than just this moment. I asked myself, “What does this song
have for me?” “Why am I so drawn to this song?” “What am I supposed to learn?”
With these questions I decided to make the effort to learn all I could about
the song and see if I couldn’t uncover the deeper meaning it seemed to have for
me.
Upon my
research I quickly learned the song was inspired by the Eggemoggin Reach, which
is located between Sedgwick Maine and Deer Isle, Maine. A reach is a long body
of water located between two bodies of land that lead’s out to sea and the
Eggemoggin Reach was wedged between the Sedgwick shoreline and Deer Isle. This
area, once known primarily for fishing, has become a place for the wealthy to
enjoy yachting and sailing. Every year there is a famous Regatta that takes
place there.
Deer Isle and
The Reach had a personal appeal to Dan. He kept a home there and spent lot of
time sailing on The Reach. It had become more and more of a home to him over
the years, so much so that it is where he spent his final days before losing
his life to cancer at the age of 56 in 2007.
I had shared
my affection of the song with my longtime best friend Tim Connolly who for a
long time had ran a Dan Fogelberg internet bulletin board. (remember those) He
provided me with the most eloquent explanation of the song’s deeper meaning that
was too good not to share verbatim.
The Reach is about recognizing that work and struggle are two of
our main ways of gaining access to true understanding along with peace and
happiness. So much of the song is about the unhappy events of the moment.
The Northers will bluster and blow.
The wind brings a chill.
The morning will blow away as the waves crash and roll.
The days get so lonely and long.
The young boys are cold and complaining.
The lost and unchosen
Fogelberg doesn't paint a picture of pure enjoyment at all- it's
effort, overcoming, sacrifice and more than anything else, it's staring down the elements that try to
conquer us. It is in this that the Reach teaches her ultimate lesson, one that
can be felt to the depths of one's soul. The easy way isn't the best way.
Without even using the word one can feel the brotherhood that is
felt when all these people come together to do their jobs. You can feel the
kinship, the unity and you know that it brings a closeness that can only be
realized when people team up to do something worthwhile in overcoming difficult
obstacles. The Reach is about finding within the rough personal endeavors that
we face and the insight into knowing that's the only place we can really
demonstrate responsibility, toughness and greatness.
In my friend’s
eloquent dissertation of what is in my opinion Fogelberg’s finest work, I find
I identify with that struggle. As I proceed towards ministry there will be ups,
downs, highs and lows and all will have a lesson for me. And I will take from
the experience all it has to teach, to the depths of my soul.
Here are the
lyrics in their entirety and the you tube link to the song.
The Reach (video)
It's
Maine... And it's Autumn
The birches have just begun turning
It's life and it's dying
The birches have just begun turning
It's life and it's dying
The
lobstermen's boats come returning
With the catch of the day in their holds
and the young boys cold and complaining
The fog meets the beaches and out on the Reach it is raining --
It's father and son It's the way it's been done
since the old days
It's hauling by hand ten miles out from the land
With the catch of the day in their holds
and the young boys cold and complaining
The fog meets the beaches and out on the Reach it is raining --
It's father and son It's the way it's been done
since the old days
It's hauling by hand ten miles out from the land
where their
chow waits
And the days are all lonely and long
and seas grow so stormy and strong but
The Reach will sing welcome as homeward they hurry along.
And the morning will blow away
As the waves crash and fall
And the Reach like a siren sings
as she beckons and calls
As the coastline recedes from view
And the seas swell and roll
I will take from the Reach
all that she has to teach
To the depths of my soul --
The wind brings a chill There's a frost on the sill
in the morning
It creeps through the door On the edge of the shore
ice is forming
Soon the northers will bluster and blow
And the woods will be whitenedwith snowfall
And the Reach will lie frozen for the lost and unchosen to row --
And the days are all lonely and long
and seas grow so stormy and strong but
The Reach will sing welcome as homeward they hurry along.
And the morning will blow away
As the waves crash and fall
And the Reach like a siren sings
as she beckons and calls
As the coastline recedes from view
And the seas swell and roll
I will take from the Reach
all that she has to teach
To the depths of my soul --
The wind brings a chill There's a frost on the sill
in the morning
It creeps through the door On the edge of the shore
ice is forming
Soon the northers will bluster and blow
And the woods will be whitenedwith snowfall
And the Reach will lie frozen for the lost and unchosen to row --
