From a very music oriented family, his older brother Jim Seals sang with a 1950s musical group called The Champs who had a 1958 hit single with the song "Tequila", and who then teamed up with Dash Crofts in the mid-1960's to perform as Seals & Crofts. Dan's other brother is country musician Eddie Seals. He is a cousin of singers Johnny Duncan, Troy Seals, Chuck Seals and Brady Seals (of Little Texas and Hot Apple Pie fame).
Taught by his father to play the upright bass, in high school, Dan joined with piano-playing friend John Ford Coley to perform first as part of Dallas pop/psych group "Southwest F.O.B." (Freight On Board) whose material has been re-released on CD by the Sundazed label. When the group disbanded, he continued performing with Coley as England Dan & John Ford Coley. The two would eventually have several hits performing singing pop rock harmonies such as I'd Really Love To See You Tonight. After 7 albums, they disbanded in 1980 and since then Dan has been performing as a solo artist.
Between 1985 and 1990, Seals scored 10 #1 hits, 7 of them consecutively, on the country charts. His first #1 was "Meet Me in Montana", a 1985 duet with Marie Osmond. His first #1 as a solo artist, "Bop", won the Country Music Association Award for best single in 1986 and had some crossover success as well; the song reached #10 on the adult contemporary charts and #42 in the Billboard Hot 100. Seals and Osmond also won a CMA award as Vocal Duo of the Year in 1986.
Dan, his brother Jim, and Dash Crofts are members of the Bahá'í Faith and say that they derive a lot of their inspiration from the faith's teachings.
Although Dan was a touring artist for the rest of the 1990s, he did release a few more albums on smaller labels throughout the decade, such as Fired Up in 1994, his final album for Warner Bros. He signed to Intersound and released In a Quiet Room, comprising acoustic versions of his earlier hits in 1995. He then switched to TDC and released In a Quiet Room II in 1998, followed by Make It Home in 2002.[7]
In 2008, Seals completed radiation treatments for mantle cell lymphoma at Vanderbilt in Nashville and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and received a stem cell transplant in December of that year at NIH in Maryland. Seals died at the age of 61, on March 25, 2009, at his daughter's home following those treatments.[8]
Ball And Chain
Dan Seals Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh you love me so good
But you don't think twice about leaving me here
I get use to you gone
Then you tell me you care
And I got to find a way to get you
To commit to me
Oh can't you see?
Like a ball and chain around my neck
You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet
To give you up and face the pain
I'd rather wear a ball and chain
I've never been touched this way
And I give you my all but I want you to say you need more than my time
Oh you say you'll be here
But your still not mine
And I want you give your love oh to only me
Oh can't you see
Like a ball and chain around my neck
You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet
To give you up and face the pain
I'd rather wear a ball and chain
Oh they say that all good things will come to those who wait
But the more I wait the more I wonder
Am I holding a love going nowhere?
Like a ball and chain around my neck
You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet
To give you up and face the pain
I'd rather wear a ball and chain
Like a ball and chain around my neck
You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet
To give you up and face the pain
I'd rather wear a ball and chain
Rather wear a ball and chain
The opening lines of Dan Seals's song Ball and Chain describe a relationship that is fraught with inconsistency and uncertainty. The persona is likening their lover to fire and ice, suggesting that while they have the capacity to love and care for them, they are also capable of leaving them without warning. This behavior has caused the persona to be cautious, and they have grown used to their lover being absent. However, when the lover returns, professing their love and care, the persona cannot resist wanting more commitment.
The chorus of the song, "You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet, to give you up and face the pain, I'd rather wear a ball and chain," encapsulates the persona's sentiments, highlighting their reluctance to give up on the relationship despite its difficulties. To the persona, the pain of the lover leaving them is less than the prospect of ending the relationship altogether. The persona is willing to settle for less than they deserve, represented by the metaphorical ball and chain they choose to carry, which serves as a reminder of their lover's limitations and their own inability to let go.
Overall, Ball and Chain is a poignant song that captures the complexities of relationships, particularly the uncertainty and inconsistency that can cause us to hold on to people who may not be right for us. The persona's willingness to settle speaks to the fear of loneliness and the difficulty of moving on, even when it's clear that the relationship is going nowhere.
Line by Line Meaning
You're like fire and ice
You have extreme mood swings which make it hard for me to understand you.
Oh you love me so good
You show me great love and tenderness but it's not consistent.
But you don't think twice about leaving me here
You're not committed to me and leave me when you want to.
I get use to you gone
I'm so used to you being away from me.
Then you tell me you care
When you come back, you tell me you care for me.
And I got to find a way to get you
I need to find a way to make you committed to me.
To commit to me
To become dedicated and exclusive in our relationship.
Oh can't you see?
Can't you understand what I want from you?
Like a ball and chain around my neck
You are a burden to me and make me feel trapped in our relationship.
You weigh me down but I'm not ready yet
You are causing me stress, but I'm not ready to leave you yet.
To give you up and face the pain
It will hurt me too much to let you go and face the consequences of losing you.
I'd rather wear a ball and chain
I'd rather deal with the struggles of our relationship and stay with you.
I've never been touched this way
You have a unique way of showing me affection and I've never experienced this before.
And I give you my all but I want you to say you need more than my time
I'm giving you everything I have, but I want you to show me that you need more than just my availability.
Oh you say you'll be here
You promise to be there with me.
But your still not mine
But you're still not fully committed to me.
And I want you give your love oh to only me
I want you to show your love for only me and be exclusive.
Oh they say that all good things will come to those who wait
Patience is key and good things come to those who wait.
But the more I wait the more I wonder
The longer I wait, the more I question if we have a future together.
Am I holding a love going nowhere?
I question if our relationship is worth it because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
Rather wear a ball and chain
Despite the struggles, I prefer to stay in our relationship instead of leaving you.
Contributed by Jordan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.