1979 No. 1 Soft Rock Ballad That 'Wrote Itself' Became an Anthem of Everlasting Love

Out of all the epic love songs to come out of the ’70s (and there were definitely a lot of them), it could be argued that Dan Fogelberg‘s “Longer” is one of the sweetest. It’s not about somebody missing somebody else, or getting their heart broken, or having a crush…it’s about a love that literally lasts forever.

Released as a single from Fogelberg’s 1979 album Phoenix, “Longer” became the highest-charting track of the singer-songwriter’s career, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

All these years later, the emotional lyrics are still ringing true for fans (especially those looking for a song to play at their wedding):

Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens
I’ve been in love with you

As Fogelberg explained in an online chat in 1997, he was actually looking up at the heavens when the inspiration for “Longer” came to him.

“I was laying in a hammock on Maui, Hawaii, on vacation, in 1978, with my then-wife. All seemed right with the world. The song seemed to write itself,” he explained.

A couple of years later, in a 1981 interview with Interchords, Fogelberg reflected on the song’s success, predicting decades of popularity to come.

“It’s not my best song either, it’s just a classic love song, and every songwriter always dreams of writing a classic love song that will be up there with the Cole Porter songs and ‘Yesterday’ and that stuff, you know?” Fogelberg said.

“That’s the stuff that’s gonna last,” he added. “People are gonna sing them at weddings and really mean it, for a long time, and that’s wonderful.”

Fogelberg went on to say that he wasn’t really as sad as he sounded on some of his songs.

“If you knew me real well, nobody thinks of me as morose or sad. I’m not that type of person. I love to laugh, it’s my main thing. I love to abuse the English language. I love being with friends, having a good time. It’s what I do most of the time, but the outlet for my sorrow, that I do feel deeply, and the pain, is the songs. That’s where it goes. Maybe I do that too much, I dunno, sometimes I think I do.”

According to Fogelberg, the source of his creativity was something of a mystery.

“I was blessed with a gift. It’s a gift and a curse, you know?” he said. “It never ends, it never stops. You’re always digging and digging. Someplace down there, and I feel it right down in my stomach when I really get there, I’m in touch with something. I don’t know what it is. I believe in God, but not in any rational or theological scope. I can’t do that. I can’t find that. That’s just too easy. But there is something in there that is overriding all of this. There’s an energy that, like everything else, comes into being, becomes and decays. And that’s almost like the way I approach songwriting, you know? It’s that moment of ultimate creation. You know it’s not really me. I’m a voice, but I’m also in control of the voice, so it’s…I dunno, I’ve thought about that a lot and I still don’t know.”

Fogelberg died in 2007 at the age of 56, following a battle with prostate cancer, but his gift is still reaching new listeners every day. At the time of this writing, “Longer” has been streamed over 100 million times on Spotify alone.

Related: 1983 Soft Rock Hit That Became a Timeless Ode to Lost Love Is Based on a True Story