"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. 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 Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

, "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 solo by

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

. 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 Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, acoustic guitar *

– flugelhorn * Gayle Levant – harp

Chart performance

"Longer" was released as a single in late 1979, prior to the release of the album ''Phoenix''. It became Fogelberg's highest-charting hit song 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 Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, and remained in the runner-up spot the next week behind " Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd. In addition, "Longer" became the first of the singer's four No. 1 songs on the '' Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart between 1980 and 1984. The song reached No. 85 on the ''Billboard'' Country 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. *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 songs 1979 singles 1980 singles Dan Fogelberg songs Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Dan Fogelberg Epic Records singles Folk ballads Full Moon Records singles 1970s ballads