This is perhaps the most difficult song I’ve ever written in my entire life. A friend of mine knew a couple who had a young daughter that died of SIDS at just a few months old. He commissioned me to write a song about it give me some of his impressions over the tragedy. I had never met the parents or little Emily and I really struggled to get this one right. I spent months doing research on how people cope with losing a young child while developing the proper authentic sound without giving a vibe that’s too sad. While I’m very pleased with the end result, it has always been a very difficult struggle for me to try to in any way promote this song or put it forward as any part of my entertainment enterprise. While I wrote the song narrative from the perspective of the little girl’s parents, I’ve never had the pleasure meeting and I’m not sure if they’ve ever got to hear this song.
On the musical front, I kept “Sweet Emily” simple and easy going as possible to relieve some of the underlying tension of the main theme and to keep the song direct and eloquent in its final presentation. There are a total of four guitars which come and go throughout the tune – two acoustic and two electric – along with a very simple percussive backing, which I accomplished by turning my acoustic guitar over, laying it on the dining room table and simply tapping on the back of it. Originally there was also a bass part, but I decided to strip that out because I did not want this song to get too crowded or convoluted.
Ric Albano – vocals, guitars, percussion
Composed by Ric Albano on August 26, 2020
From the album Out There Somewhere by Ric Albano
Released October 24, 2020
Listen to the Song:
Lyrics
It’s a love that never dies
Even through the most intense, traumatic cries
The more our hearts are aching, the clearer how unshakable this case
A truly special little girl, perhaps too good for this ole’ world
Although its so heartbreaking, we’ll never be forsaking the moment we face
Forever and unreservedly, that is the way one will love their own child
So if you get to Heaven and you see sweet Emily, please give her a smile
There should a natural sequence to life
The first to leave would be the earliest who’d arrived
Sometimes things don’t land that way, “why?” we say, God only knows
And there’s your favorite teddy bear, locked in its kind, forever stare
Can you look at it right now from where you are? Oh, please let it be so
No getting over it, there’s just no moving on after a while
So if you get to Heaven and you see sweet Emily, please give her a smile
Late this morning I had a vivid dream
Your tiny hand was reaching out for me
Tried so hard to rescue you,
Until I realized that I’m the one who is really lost
So I struggle to take a single step on the long and winding trek of many miles
Determined to get to Heaven where I’ll see sweet Emily and finally smile
We will share a smile
© 2020 Ric Albano & Cygnus Wave Records. All Rights Reserved.
Track 4 of 13 from Out There Somewhere by Ric Albano (2020)
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