08. Strange Dream (3:26)

Song written and sung by Corky Siegel
Corky Siegel Piano
Recorded 1975

Background vocals (recorded 2020) by “The Bergamot” Jillian Speece and Nathaniel Paul

Mixed and re-mastered by Ken Goerres

There is no story about this song other than it expresses quite the fearless approach to songwriting from a player who is considered to be a blues musician. Imagine having performed with Siegel-Schwall, a high- intensity blues band, from 1965 till 1974, and then getting on stage right after that, alone, and performing "Strange Dream." Do you think the audience was surprised? LOL! The historic value of Strange Dream is that it shows you how crazy I really am. I love being crazy. As I have said before in different ways: I am just an innocent victim of the power of music, and all I do is ride this tsunami till it crashes upon the shore.

Actually there is a story here. To make it short, I had been studying Yoga and Meditation deeply since 1974. It was always beautiful but I dove deeper in there in December of 1980 and I began having very deep experiences of clarity and ecstasy and knowing, along with that feeling of being at the right place at the right time in the right way. This was all accompanied by multiple and constant synchronicities - every day - that were so outrageous that the people around me were all freaking out. By 1981, I became very used to it.

I got a phone call from an artist who was working on a logo for the Corky Siegel Band. She said that Carol Line, my assistant, was supposed to meet her and two other artists downtown to make some choices. Carol wasn’t able to meet them so I was asked to come down. I looked at my calendar and saw that it was Valentine’s Day. I had the feeling I was being framed by the Universe. The artist opened the door to the studio. She said; “Oh it’s you right out of the blue.” Well this phrase often accompanied the synchronicities. She was working on my logo with two other artists. I don’t know what came over me. Not 20 minutes went by. I whispered into her ear and said; “We are going to be spending the rest of our lives together." She really thought I was nuts. Later I explained to her why I knew this to be. Now she really thought I was nuts.

Never-the-less the next morning at 6am I get a call; "Can you come over?" And Holly and I have been spending the rest of our lives together since Valentine's day 1981.

A strange dream came true. I didn't realize that I had written a song back around 1975 that was a pure premonition of this marriage arranged by the universe on Feb 14, 1981.