Kenny Loggins

There are times
When love soaks you to the bone
'N then those moments leave you wonderin'
If you'll lose your mind or lose control
Life is nothing without love
Love is nothing if not freedom
They tell me the gates of hell
That you shake 'n you rattle
Are secretly locked from inside
You hope 'n pray you'll find
The one thing on your mind
Not until you know
The art of letting go
'N it may seem to be
Defying gravity
That's because they know
The art of letting go
You may think
You built a present perfect world
And you may wonder to yourself
Does anyone really know what else could ever matter?
But the man with his hand
On the hammer
Wears a velvet glove
Does the rich man know he's poor?
Does the beggar care for much more than survival?
When you look into the eyes of children laughing
Do you remember who you were?
Or who you are?
Life is nothing without love
Love is nothing if not freedom
They tell me the gates of hell
That you shake 'n you rattle
Are secretly locked
From inside
You hope 'n pray you'll find
The one thing on your mind
Not until you know
The art of letting go
'N it may seem to be
Defying gravity
That's because they know
The art of letting go
You hope and pray you'll find
A love to last all time
Not until you know
The art of letting go
And it may seem to be
Defying gravity
That's because they know
The art of letting go
You're dying to believe
In love eternally
Not until you know
The art of letting go
And it may seem to be
Defying gravity
That's because we know
The art of letting go
You can't go through it
Without going through it
'Til it goes through you
'Til you know the truth

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kenny Loggins has enjoyed more than three decades of success in the music business, as a songwriter and performer, mostly in a soft rock vein. He was born Kenneth Clarke Loggins in Everett, WA in early 1948, and the family later moved to Detroit, and finally to Alhambra, CA when he was in his teens. He initially turned to music as a way of compensating for his extreme shyness, and found that he was, indeed, a talented guitarist and had a voice. For a time in the late ‘60s he was based in Pasadena, studying at Pasadena City College. At the end of the decade, Loggins passed through the lineup of a band called Gator Creek, who were good enough to get signed to Mercury Records. The group recorded one self-titled album, which was issued in 1970 and included an early version of “Danny’s Song,” a track that he later recorded again as part of Loggins & Messina. He also spent time with a short-lived group called Second Helping, and was a member of the stage incarnation of the Electric Prunes during a later phase of that group’s history.

Loggins was proficient on the guitar and piano, but it was his songwriting that allowed him to make his first lasting impression on the music industry. He took a job as a staff writer for Wingate Music, for $100.00 a week, and later that year four of his songs ended up on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy. This event was particularly fortuitous, as that album was the first release by the newly reconstituted version of the group, and included what proved to be their biggest hit, “Mr. Bojangles.” The presence of the latter helped make Uncle Charlie one of the group’s biggest selling long-players; and the exposure generated a second hit in the form of Loggins’ own “House at Pooh Corner.”

The success of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s recordings brought Loggins to the attention of former Poco member Jim Messina, who was working as a staff producer at CBS. It was Messina’s intention to produce Loggins' debut album, but he also ended up playing and singing on the record, and it worked out so well that the two ended up in a duo. Loggins & Messina were among the most popular folk-based soft rock acts of the first half of the ‘70s and enjoyed a four-year string of successful albums.

more tracks from the album

The Unimaginable Life

From the album

The Unimaginable Life (1997)

Kenny Loggins popular songs

The Art Of Letting GoKenny Loggins

Kenny Loggins

The Unimaginable Life