Dan Black

Meet Dan Black from Merrickville, Ontario, Canada.

A Song Along The Highway: America Brings Back Some Memories

In the summer of 1973, my buddy Dave Miller and I talked a lot about buying an old van and driving to California. Our dream was to meet a couple of girls and then watch the sun set over the Pacific while listening to Peaceful Easy Feeling by the Eagles.

It was quite a fantasy for a couple of kids who had no cash. I worked for an Ottawa trailer repair shop, while Dave collected buckets of golf balls at a nearby driving range. We worked as much as we could that summer, but by early August we had to face up to the fact that we couldn't afford even the cheapest van.

So, we focused on something else. Instead of heading to the West Coast, we decided to get on our bicycles and head west, not to California, mind you, but to an old farmhouse northwest of Ottawa.

It was raining and well after dark by the time we approached the old country road running through South March. I remember the wind was quite strong and the two of us were soaked by the rain and the spray of passing cars. But, Dave and I were going to finish the trip. We were going to visit an old farmer named Joe Delorme. I remember we stopped there in the dark and began to laugh at ourselves; a couple of drowned rats. I remember reaching into my backpack and pulling out my transistor radio. And that is when I heard the song that has meant so much to me ever since.

Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don't look
Good in snow...

The name of the song, of course, was Ventura Highway and it was about sunshine and wonderful places where days are longer and nights stronger than moonshine. It was our California dream, but even more remarkable was the reference to a man named Joe.

Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain.

Dave and I leaned closer to the radio. We forgot about the rain. We forgot where we were. We became part of the song--completely absorbed by the lyrics. It was as though our journey suddenly had a theme. When the song ended, Dave and I waited for the disc jockey to announce the name of the song and the name of the band, but that information never came that night.

All through high school and college, Dave and I always made time for old Joe, even after his family moved him out of his beloved farmhouse into a nursing home. He would tell us about the old days in South March and we'd always get him to repeat the one about the headless horsewoman. But Joe also talked a lot about human kindness and the incredible power of hope.

On the first anniversary of Joe's death, Dave and I stood over his grave and played the song we had heard that night in 1973. The lyrics coming from the tape recorder were for Joe, but they were also for two teenagers who had finally grown up.

The name of the band was America and that song--like our memories of Joe--will remain sacred.

Cause the free wind is blowin' through
Your hair
And the days surround your daylight
There
Seasons crying no despair...

Dave and I are still best buddies. Both of us actually own vans--or should I say minivans. We've got kids of our own now and my daughter Katy--who is almost 11--loves to listen to my America CDs. She loves the song Hope on the Hourglass CD. If only I could tell Joe. For here is a song that draws attention to the incredible power of hope.

There's a clock timing the world as it turns
There's a man marking the candle as it burns
Keeping track of every minute that remains.
Still we hope somehow
It's gonna be alright
It's gonna turn out fine.

What a wonderful song. Thanks America.

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Dan.