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]
We Are One
Dan Seals Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A young boy is crying
He's alone and he don't understand
How the teachings of one book
Built on love and understanding
Could cause the hurt and killing in his land
In an old part of Jerusalem
They run and laugh
The way it's meant to be
But one will wear the star and one will wear the crescent
And they'll grow up and change from friends to enemies
But we are one
Flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
In a Pakistani village
A young boy on crutches
Takes a fall
And lies helplessly there
And he holds out his hand
But no one will take it
They won't touch him
Or the clothes that he wears
On a side street in Selma
A black child is sitting
In a squad car
Protected from the whites
'Cause they're burning a cross
To send her a message
And you can see
The fear in her eyes
But we are one
Flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
Ponder in our hearts
How we were all created
From the same dust
And searching we will find
That spirit of the age
Has come to find us
To find us
But we are one
Flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
The song We Are One by Dan Seals confronts the issue of division and conflict that exists globally, which often arise due to differences in religion, race, and class. The lyrics discuss incidents of disparity and mistreatment, such as a young boy crying in a bombed-out room in Belfast or a black child sitting in a squad car, being protected from whites burning crosses to send her a message. These stories illustrate how humanity has become divided despite originating from the same dust, according to Seals.
The song is a call for unity amongst all humans, a plea to recognize the sameness in one another and acknowledge that beneath the surface, they are all one family. It poignantly asks how something as sacred as religion, built on love and understanding, could cause so much division and hatred. Seals implores listeners to take a stand and let the walls of division come down to stand together as one, like the flowers of one garden or the leaves of one tree. Seals' powerful lyrics convey that humanity's inevitable differences should not overshadow the fact that every human being deserves recognition and respect.
Line by Line Meaning
In a bombed out room in Belfast
In a room that was destroyed by bombs in Belfast
A young boy is crying
A boy who is still immature is in tears
He's alone and he don't understand
He is by himself and has no comprehension of the situation
How the teachings of one book
The understanding and beliefs of a certain book
Built on love and understanding
Advocating ideas of love and empathy
Could cause the hurt and killing in his land
Could lead to harm and death in his country
But we are one
But we have a collective identity
Flowers of one garden
We are all unique and beautiful but we are part of the same community
We're one the leaves of one tree
We are different, but we come from the same roots
Let the walls come down
We should all break down the barriers that are dividing us
And stand here together
And exist side-by-side, united
We are one family
All of us are family
In a Pakistani village
In a rural area of Pakistan
A young boy on crutches
A boy who is using crutches to walk
Takes a fall
He falls to the ground
And lies helplessly there
And is unable to move from that position
And he holds out his hand
He extends his hand to other people
But no one will take it
However, no one around him helps
They won't touch him
They refuse to come in physical contact with him
Or the clothes that he wears
Nor do they want to come into contact with his clothing
On a side street in Selma
On a less-traveled road located in Selma
A black child is sitting
A kid who belongs to the black community
In a squad car
Inside a police car used for transportation by law enforcement officers
Protected from the whites
Shielded from the people who identify themselves as white
'Cause they're burning a cross
Attribute the cause of the event to the symbolic act of burning a cross, representing racism
To send her a message
In order to convey a message to her
And you can see
It is observable that
The fear in her eyes
The visible sign of anxiety in her eyes
Ponder in our hearts
Consider sympathetically from one’s own point of view
How we were all created
The fact that all humans share a common original source
From the same dust
From the Earth in the beginning
And searching we will find
If we explore, we will discover
That spirit of the age
The prevailing sentiment of the era
Has come to find us
Has discovered us
But we are one
But every person is connected to others
Flowers of one garden
Though each has beauty in their own right, we are all part of the same larger whole
We're one the leaves of one tree
Although diverse, we come from the same source and roots
Let the walls come down
Destroy the walls that split us apart
And stand here together
Stand near each other, joined
We are one family
As the same origin and same fate brings us together
Contributed by Abigail H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@melin520
In a bombed out room in Belfast
A young boy is crying
He's alone and he don't understand
How the teachings of one book
Built on love and understanding
Could cause the hurt and killing in his land
In an old part of Jerusalem
Two children are playing
They run and laugh the way that it should be
But one will wear the star
And one will wear the crescent
And they'll grow up and
Change from friends to enemies
+++++++++++++++
But we are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
In a Pakistani village
A young boy on crutches
Takes a fall and lies helplessly there
And he holds out his hand
But no one will take it
They won't touch him
Or the clothes that he wears
On a side street in Selma
A black child is sitting In a squad car
Protected from the whites
'Cause they're burning a cross
To send her a message
And you can see the fear in her eyes
+++++++++++++++
But we are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
Ponder in our hearts
How we were all created
From the same dust, the same dust
Searching we will find
That spirit of the age
Has come to find us, To find us
We are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family.....
@helo821ab
I have seen Dan Seals at least three times in my life. I had the pleasure of actually meeting him in Sioux City. Very approachable man and so sincere. Now that he's gone, all we have left is his music to listen to. Amazing voice...amazing man. RIP Dan.
@thecritter5589
warhawk40 I too met Dan Seals on several occasions when attending his shows. He had been a favorite of mine as a boy. He was amazingly kind and gracious to me, even sitting and talking with me and signing an autograph. He had one of the best voices I've ever heard, was one heck of a songwriter and an even greater man.
We should all strive to be just 1/2 as loving and accepting as he was. I hope to wind up as fine of a person as he was.
@patrickrozario4157
He was a gem .. went to his concert in Singapore n spoke to him ...
@JaneShevtsov
I love how, in the children's hands, the symbols of hate become just playthings. Great song; beautifully done video.
@FrankieBonsignoreMusic
❤️
@peterjmaida2057
RIP Mr. Dan Seals. Thank you for all the beautiful songs.
@trustworthy6227
Very powerful and touching song ever! Great!
@monicapartridge5375
Great song. So sad that there are so many in this world who don't think like this. What a beautiful place it could be.
@melin520
In a bombed out room in Belfast
A young boy is crying
He's alone and he don't understand
How the teachings of one book
Built on love and understanding
Could cause the hurt and killing in his land
In an old part of Jerusalem
Two children are playing
They run and laugh the way that it should be
But one will wear the star
And one will wear the crescent
And they'll grow up and
Change from friends to enemies
+++++++++++++++
But we are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
In a Pakistani village
A young boy on crutches
Takes a fall and lies helplessly there
And he holds out his hand
But no one will take it
They won't touch him
Or the clothes that he wears
On a side street in Selma
A black child is sitting In a squad car
Protected from the whites
'Cause they're burning a cross
To send her a message
And you can see the fear in her eyes
+++++++++++++++
But we are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family
Ponder in our hearts
How we were all created
From the same dust, the same dust
Searching we will find
That spirit of the age
Has come to find us, To find us
We are one flowers of one garden
We're one the leaves of one tree
Let the walls come down
And stand here together
We are one family.....
@audreyaragon1860
i like all the songs of dan seals. very meaningful songs