20 May 2010 - 7:08A Rainbow in the Dark

Sort of a paradox if you think about it. But I actually saw one.

When we were loading up the car with bikes and stuff for the race on Saturday (except tools), I saw a rainbow to the east, which is generally opposite from where they normally appear in the west. The sky was dark and promising rain. I’d already resigned myself that I was going to be racing in the pouring rain so I was OK with this. This rainbow struck me as very odd.

In my mental ipod (my head), I had “Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio playing on constant repeat during my race because of this vision. If anyone has the latest Dirtrag, they should check out Dicky’s article about riding with music. It’s very true. If I don’t have headphones on while I’m riding, I have music in my head. At SSAP, it was a Maiden/Dio combo, with commercials for Powerthirst.

I thought nothing of this on the day, other than the fact that I used to listen to Dio all the time when I was a teenager. I had his first four albums on vinyl, drew the Dio logo on all of my school books, and generally drove my parents nuts with my musical obsession. Lately, I’ve been “kicking it old school” and listening to a lot of the old, and what might now be considered cheezy, metal that I used to listen to in my youth. Well I like it.

And imagine my surprise on Sunday, when I learned that Ronnie James Dio succumbed to stomach cancer on Sunday morning, not 24 hours after I saw the dark rainbow in the sky. I was shocked. The music he made has always been in my life and will always remain. He gave me, and so many others, a soundtrack to live your life to. Sometimes brooding, but most of the time rocking so hard you can’t believe it. Mandy doesn’t get it, because she was a “hardcore” kid. Hardcore, for the most part, is basically really bad metal, but I digress… I’m a fan of many musical genres, and Dio was one of my very favorite bands.

Ronnie James Dio, you will be missed, but your music lives on forever.

Long live rock.