Dear Grandpa was one of the most difficult songs I have ever
written. The emotion and memories and
all that. This was done shortly after
the death of my last remaining grandfather.
He had been ill for a long time but it was still a shock to get the news,
as it always is.
On my mother’s side, my grandfather was someone I admired
greatly growing up. He knew about
everything, built things, played drums (although I could never get him to play
my kit), made me parts for my own drums when I had toy kits in the beginning
and was someone I always wanted to be around.
On my father’s side, my grandfather was at work a lot of the time, where
he preferred to be. I spent very little
time with him but he was a kind man with a loving heart. We would go on day trips on the weekends
sometimes but never an overnight. In
early years, he smoked cigars and I can still remember the smell. They did not create the best aroma but there
is a comfort in that memory just the same.
The rest of the story I will let the song tell.
On location filming Cult Cartel with
MoviesMakingADifference (Check them out they do truly fantastic things that affect people's lives in an amazing way!), I looked up between takes and saw these two clouds
that were a perfect representation of the story. So close but so far. The same but very different. I immediately connected them with the song
and snapped a quick picture on my phone.
I had been planning on releasing the song already so this was just
perfect.
Originally, the idea for the song was going to be licensing
Return to Innocence by Enigma and putting the beat and chanting from the song
as the background to me rapping these
letters to my grandfathers ala Eminem’s song Stan. Not having the resources for that, I composed
the music after playing around with some cello sounds. I then did a demo version where I rapped but
then changed it to a straight read.
I hope you enjoy it.
It may be an emotional connection for you or it may not. Relationships are unique to each person. Some people are raised by their grandparents
and others never even meet them. Both
were very special to me in their own ways.
Exclusive release on CDBaby
Click to listen or download for free: Dear Grandpa
