Editor's note: The following was something I wrote after the passing of Prince. I decided not to publish as it's pretty obvious nobody needs to hear my thoughts on the subject. In fact, I was going to delete it until Ricki C. talked me into posting it. So here you go. For the official Pencilstorm prose on Prince, click here to read Ricki C's excellent story. - Colin Gawel

I'm not qualified to write about the passing of Prince and I'm not going to spend much time doing it here. Of course, I was a fan. Everybody was a fan. But I am no Prince aficionado. I knew the hits and followed along the best I could through the years. An occasional Prince bender to get caught up on all that I had missed. I was lucky enough to see him perform live one time. Needless to say, it was jaw-dropping. Whenever Watershed played Minneapolis, we would stop by Prince's store and look through the windows. The way you stop in front of Graceland to take a look. Or stare at the full moon on a clear night. 

But, back in the mid 80's, I wore big, clunky blue radio headphones on my paper route and was bombarded with cuts from Purple Rain and Born in the USA on a daily basis. PRINCE and BRUCE were the soundtrack to the Reagan era before I even knew what that was. I suppose Madonna would be the other big name, but as a boy heading into puberty, you might say I was watching her more than listening.

To hear that Prince had passed, it was a body blow. Way more intense than the passing of any other musician of my lifetime to this date. And I like I said, I don't even consider myself a truly hardcore fan. But driving home from the coffee shop today listening to BRUCE pay tribute to PRINCE, the tears started flowing. CEO's and politicians come and go, but they are always replaced. When Prince goes, we do not get to vote on a new Prince. Nobody gets promoted, it's just empty space. 

Ok, this probably doesn't make much sense. But neither does the passing of Prince. I suppose my strong reaction is because If Prince can go, anybody can go. Enjoy today. Put on some big blue headphones and crank up some tunes. Life is short. Clicking post.........now. - CG