Dan Seals... I'm sorry.

I don't necessarily believe in the supernatural, unexplained occurrences and the like but I want to pass this along because I never had something happen like this before.

[REFLECTIVE PAUSE #1: God, this is starting to sound like the beginning of a Penthouse Forum letter. Anyway...]

Within the last week I somehow heard a certain song which I had stuck in my head for days... "Meet Me In Montana" by Dan Seals & Marie Osmond. I know, right? What the hell? I think I heard it in the car on the way to Marshfield this past weekend but I'm not sure. Now although I can stomach the occasional country tune I'm not a country music fan and I won't go out of my way to listen to it unless forced to...

[REFLECTIVE PAUSE #2: For those of you that know me you'll know that I go to the Hodag Country Music Festival every year. Not my choice as it is one of the many sacrifices I make for my lovely wife. Therefore when I say "unless forced to", that's what I'm talking about. Just know that I take at least four cases of beer along for the duration just so you have an idea how I cope.]

So this song has been stuck in my head for the last few days. I even found it online and downloaded it so I had it. Weird. Anyway, I'm on the Facebook Wednesday morning and Calgaro did a status update, saying...

"...light of the world, shine on me, love is the answer."

[REFLECTIVE PAUSE #3: Lyrics from "Love is the Answer".]

So I reply...

"England Dan & John Ford Coley? You're on the WRONG station."


[REFLECTIVE PAUSE #4: "England Dan" is Dan Seals if you didn't know. He's on the left.]

Later that morning Roxanne Steele, John Jordan, Elwood and I were talking and Calgaro walks up and first thing he says to me is that those lyrics were from Todd Rundgren, not ED&JFC. I replied that ED&JFC recorded and released that song too. Then we all had a short discussion about 70s music and moved on with our lives.

[REFLECTIVE PAUSE #5: Don't bail yet. I'm getting there.]

Yesterday, Dan Seals passed away. Found it out this morning after all this other stuff occurred. And now I'm wondering if the persistence of that song in my head and the whole Facebook thing was trying to tell me that this was going to happen. It's really strange that a guy who I haven't thought about in years suddenly crossed my mind on two separate occasions in the past week right before he left us. But I suppose it was just coincidence. It sounds like Seals was rather sick so if it was some supernatural sign I doubt I could have done anything anyway. But if I could have... well then, Dan Seals... I'm sorry.

Although I didn't mean it to, this may have come across as some flippant attempt at humor and if it did, I apologize. In all seriousness, Dan Seals was as big a part of my musical influence growing up as any artist on 70s radio. Whether it was the songs of England Dan & John Ford Coley or Seals' foray into country music where he also had success, he should be regarded as one of the best and rightly so. I doubt any of the larger country stations in NE Wisconsin will do any tributes to him but there may be something on 104.3 The Breeze later on. Dan Seals died of mantle cell lymphoma at the age of 61.