"Longer" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg and released in 1979 by Full Moon Records and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. The song can be found on Fogelberg's 1979 album '' Phoenix''. It was also included on his 1982 greatest hits album as well as various other retrospective and compilation recordings. Fogelberg, who had released more rock oriented songs throughout the 1970s, jokingly described "Longer" in the liner notes to one of his retrospective albums as "the song that put me on the elevators."Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications) He wrote the song while vacationing in

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, "lounging in a hammock one night and looking up at the stars. It just seems this song was drifting around the universe, saw me, and decided I'd give it a good home." Accompanying Fogelberg's vocals is an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(played by the singer) as well as a

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

solo by Jerry Hey. Lyrically, the song compares various events ("Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens") with his emotional attachment to the one he loves ("I've been in love with you").

Personnel

* Dan Fogelberg – lead vocals, acoustic guitar * Jerry Hey –

* Gayle Levant –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

Chart performance

"Longer" was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in late 1979, prior to the release of the album ''Phoenix''. It became Fogelberg's highest-charting hit of his career, spending two weeks at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in March 1980. Whitburn, Joel (1996). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition (Billboard Publications) It was kept from the summit the first week by " Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen, and remained in the runner-up spot the next week behind " Another Brick in the Wall" by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. In addition, "Longer" became the first of the singer's four No. 1 songs on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

between 1980 and 1984. The song reached No. 85 on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. In the United Kingdom, "Longer" was Fogelberg's only song to reach the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 59.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

*The song appears on Nissan Gloria Y30 and Y31 commercial advertisements. The song also appears in a Toyota Tercel 2001 commercial in Taiwan. *The song appears in the wedding scene in the film '' About Schmidt'', with lead vocals performed by Beth Heimann.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1979 singles Dan Fogelberg songs Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Dan Fogelberg Epic Records singles Folk ballads Rock ballads 1979 songs Full Moon Records singles 1970s ballads