Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band"

An only child alone and wild                                                       
A cabinet maker's son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none --
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift I know 
I never can repay

A quiet man of music
Denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once
But his music wouldn't wait
He earned his love through discipline
A thundering, velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls
Took me years to understand.

The leader of the band is tired
And his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul --
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

My brothers' lives were different
For they heard another call
One went to Chicago
And the other to St. Paul
And I'm in Colorado
When I'm not in some hotel
Living out this life I've chose
And come to know so well.

I thank you for the music
And your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go --
I thank you for the kindness
And the times when you got tough
And, papa, I don't think I
Said 'I love you' near enough --

The leader of the band is tired
And his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul --
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man


I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band


I am the living legacy
To the leader of the band.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsocZrEcp0Y if you want to listen to it...


This is a song my sister said reminded her of our Dad. At first, ya maybe. After the third time I'd have to disagree. The song is about a child that tried to follow in his father's footsteps, and failed. "My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man" I don't think that our Dad would want any of his children to follow in his footsteps. I'd think he'd rather have us learn from his past than imitate him. Do as I say not as I do type of thing. 
A child being nothing but a legacy of a parent is rather demeaning to the child. While some traits do pass from parent to child, the child is more than what they've gotten from their parents. The child learns and grows, in part, away from their parents. Some more than others, depending on the child. I have traits of both of my parents but there are things that are just me. My experiences and memories could lead to the same places that my parents have gone, but the trip was different. Therefor it is different than what a parent has learned.  


Dan thanks his father for setting him on the path that he loves and feeling that he'd never be able to repay him for that gift. "He earned his love through discipline A thundering, velvet hand" also fits, as anyone who has spoken to him, for any length of time, heard his prideful boasts. These fit, but thats about it.