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NETHER LANDS

RIAA Certified - Double Platinum

 

Released May 1977 on Epic Records. All compositions by Dan Fogelberg (©1977/Hickory Grove Music-ASCAP)

 

Nether Lands

Once Upon A Time

Dancing Shoes

Lessons Learned

Loose Ends

Love Gone By

Promises Made

Give Me Some Time

Scarecrow's Dream

Sketches

False Faces

Nether Lands

Credits

 

Nether Lands

Dan Fogelberg - piano, vocals

Orchestral arrangement by Dominic Frontiere/Dan Fogelberg 

Conducted by Dominic Frontiere

 

Once Upon A Time

Dan Fogelberg - acoustic 12-string guitars, Leslie guitar, electric lead guitars, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Kenny Buttrey - drums

Don Henley - harmony

 

Dancing Shoes

Dan Fogelberg - piano, finger cymbals, acoustic guitars, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Frank Marocco - accordion

String quartet arrangement by Norbert Putnam

 

Lessons Learned

Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, electric guitars, electric piano, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Russ Kunkel - drums, congas

 

Loose Ends

Dan Fogelberg - acoustic 12 string guitars, electric rhythm guitars, electric lead guitars, piano, pipe organ, slide guitar, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Joe Walsh - electric rhythm guitars

Joe Vitale - drums

Don Henley - harmony

John David Souther - harmony

 

Love Gone By

Dan Fogelberg - piano, organ, electric rhythm guitars, lap steel guitar, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Kenny Buttrey - drums

Joe Lala - congas

Don Henley - harmony

 

Promises Made

Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, electric Gretsch guitar, lead guitars, Arp synthesizers, high string guitar, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Kenny Buttrey - drums

John Stronach - tambourine, maracas

 

Give Me Some Time

Dan Fogelberg - classical guitar, electric piano, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Kenny Buttrey - drums, percussion

Tim Weisberg - flutes

 

Scarecrow's Dream

Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, harpsichord, electric piano, Arp string ensemble, high string guitars, sleigh bells, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

 

Sketches

Dan Fogelberg - piano, vocals

Arranged by Dominic Frontiere

 

False Faces

Dan Fogelberg - piano, acoustic and electric guitars, Arp synthesizer, vocals

Norbert Putnam - bass

Kenny Buttrey - drums

John David Souther - background vocals

Orchestra arranged and conducted by Dominic Frontiere

 

Produced by Dan Fogelberg and Norbert Putnam for Full Moon Productions

Recorded at - Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado; The Record Plant, Los Angeles and Sausalito;Quadraphonic Sound Studios, Nashville; North Star Studio, Boulder, Colorado

 

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 

Oh I want a lover and 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 

Oh 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 earthly 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 

Oh, one road was simple acceptance of life 

The other road offered sweet peace 

When I made my decision 

My vision became my release 

 

 

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 

 

(Chorus) 

'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 

 

(Chorus) 

(Repeat First Verse) 

(Chorus) 

 

 

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 dans ma coeur et dans ma tete 

 

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 reel 

 

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 

 

 

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 your 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 every time 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 

You know, we must believe in the love that survives 

 

(Chorus) 

Oh 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 warm winds of feeling 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 

 

(Chorus) 

 

 

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 

 

(Chorus) 

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 

(Chorus) 

(Repeat Chorus) 

 

 

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 

 

(Chorus) 

And I've been thinking 'bout the love gone by 

Honey, has the well run dry 

Oh, 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 

 

(Chorus) 

 

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 

Oh, it's enough to make you cry 

Thinking 'bout the love gone by 

 

Promises Made 

 

Promises made and promises broken 

Measures of our demise 

Secrets of souls that rarely get spoken 

Pleasure's a thin disguise 

 

Dozens of ways and 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 and 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 

Those promises made 

 

 

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 go 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

 

(Chorus) 

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 

 

(Chorus) 

(Repeat Chorus) 

Maybe I'll fall for you 

Maybe I'll fall for you 

Maybe I'll fall for you 

Maybe I'll fall for you 

 

 

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 thaw but they're running still 

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 

 

 

Sketches 

 

a. Summer 

Late in the summer when the cottonwood dies 

The fields are on fire with green bottle flies 

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 some way 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 

 

 

False Faces 

 

Oil on canvas 

Couplets and stanzas to divine who you are 

Pencil portrayals and jealous betrayals 

Get you further afar 

 

(Chorus) 

Oh, false faces and meaningless chases I travel alone 

Oh, 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 

 

(Chorus) 

 

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

 

(Chorus) 

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