Dan Fogelberg's 'old lover,' Jill Greulich, remembers 'Same Old Lang Syne' 40 years later

Forty years later, Jill Greulich remembers when she first heard “Same Old Lang Syne.”

To be sure, the song – which has endured as a yuletide staple since its release in late 1980 – holds a dear place in the hearts of all fans of Dan Fogelberg. As they well know, the ballad is an autobiographical and bittersweet recollection of a chance Christmas Eve encounter with an “old lover in the grocery store" in his native Peoria, Illinois.

But to Greulich, the songs means much more, as she is that old lover.

In December 2007, shortly after Fogelberg died of prostate cancer at age 56, she revealed for the first time her role in the song.

Sweethearts from the Woodruff High School Class of ’69, Fogelberg and Greulich (then Jill Anderson) later would end up going their own ways a few years later – he out West to start a music career, she to Chicago to teach schoolchildren. But on Christmas Eve 1975, as each left family gatherings in Peoria in search of last-minute supplies, they had a serendipitous encounter at a grocery store. They split a six-pack in her car, shared updates about their lives and then again went their separate ways.

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“It's a memory that I cherish,” she said at the time, providing the headline for a column that has since become more widely read by far than anything ever published in this space.

To mark the song’s 40th anniversary, she offered a few comments about its burgeoning appeal.

“What I have observed about this memory," she says, "is how many people can relate to this meeting.”

Its continued popularity might’ve shocked Fogelberg four decades ago.

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Before "Same Old Lang Syne," Fogelberg's sixth album, "Phoenix," included the single “Longer” that hit No. 2 on the pop charts. “Phoenix,” which sold 2 million copies, was made available at the library along with several other tapes, including “Mac Davis’ Greatest Hits” and the soundtrack from “Star Wars.”

His breakthrough wouldn’t come until August 1981 with “The Innocent Age." The album eventually would hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, thanks to four singles that surged up the pop charts, including three released in ‘81: “Hard to Say” (No. 7), “Leader of the Band” (No. 9) and “Run for the Roses” (No. 18).

Also hitting No. 9 was “Same Old Lang Syne,” which had dropped first in November 1980. Back then, record companies spent no small amount of strategizing in picking just the right first single, which could make or break an album. For “The Innocent Age,” the choice of “Same Old Lang Syne” surely must’ve amused Fogelberg, who began writing it as an ongoing gag.

He decided to tell a sappy tale about a lost-love reunion at a convenience store. But as he kept at it, the song developed a surprising emotional heft.

“I came up with the title, which I thought was a good pun,” he later said. “And suddenly I realized that there was a great poignancy developing in the song that I never intended. And it started taking on a life of it’s own. ... I never intended it to see the light of day.”

For the single, the November release made sense regarding the holiday season. Granted, “Same Old Lang Syne” doesn’t fit the same radio-carol niche as, say, “Sleigh Ride,” “Feliz Navidad” or “Jingle Bell Rock.” Still, in addition to the lush “Auld Lang Syne” soprano saxophone solo by Michael Brecker that ends the song, the setting is made clear in the second line: “The snow was falling Christmas Eve,” a mirthsome happenstance that melts into the somber reality of the final line’s, “The snow turned into rain."

Whatever the ultimate reasons were to releasing "Same Old Lang Syne" first, the strategy worked. The song reached the Top 40 two days after Christmas, debuting at No. 37 and the tune soon would surprise Fogelberg’s "old lover."

Driving to her teaching job, she snapped on her car radio. An unfamiliar song – is that a new one? – wafted from the speakers. She mused, “That sounds like Dan.”

As the song moved along, she listened with a growing intensity to the lyrics: grocery store, Christmas Eve, beer toasts, old flames.

“Oh my gosh!” her head screamed. “That really happened!”

She told almost no one about her tie to the tune. A few years later, she talked with Fogelberg backstage at a concert. As they discussed the song for the first time, he mentioned that he’d taken poetic license in spots, such as changing her eye color from green to blue.

“Blue is easier to rhyme than green,” he explained with a chuckle.

They didn’t delve into the most chilling line, which regarded her marital situation in 1975: “She would have liked to say she loved the man, but she didn’t like to lie.” By the time of the release of the song, that marriage had long broken up. In fact, in 1980, she had remarried to a Chicago gent named Jim Greulich. And soon they’d move to St. Louis, where they still live today.

Since that 2007 interview with the Journal Star, Jill Greulich – though publicly quiet – has become more comfortable with the song. Her name has become an internet staple for any fan of Fogelberg or “Same Old Lang Syne.”

The song has seemingly grown in popularity and it’s not unusual for Gruelich to hear from people with strong emotional ties to the song. As it turns out, others likewise had mixed-emotion meet-ups.

“I get many messages still from both men and women voicing that something similar had happened to them,” she says. “I think this may be the reason that this song will remain timeless.”

Her family, of course, knows her role behind the tune. It’s a source of joy for Greulich as a grandmother, known to her grandkids as Mimi.

“My granddaughters love hearing ‘Mimi’s song' on the radio, which warms my heart,” she says.

And like many others touched by the song, it still tugs at Greulich.

“I had told you in our initial interview that it is a memory I will never forget, and it continues to take me back to a wonderful place every time I hear the song,” she says. “I am so glad that Dan was a part of my life!”

Phil Luciano is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at [email protected], facebook.com/philluciano and (309) 686-3155. Follow him on Twitter.com/LucianoPhil.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Same Old Lang Syne: Dan Fogelberg's old lover reflects 40 years later