stories behind the songs!

Song ideas are born to a songwriter in many ways.  Sometimes these ideas are inspired through observation,  sometimes through fantasy, but many times the songs are inspired from one's own life experiences!  "My Little Girl" is a four-minute song that summarizes a lifetime of blessings I have received as the father of my daughter, Lauren!  This song also represents the story of other fathers blessed with their own daughter(s).  I truly have been honored and blessed to be Lauren's father, and she will always be my little girl!

As Lauren's wedding day was quickly approaching, she kept reminding me we needed to pick a song for our father/daughter dance.  We both had been reviewing song selections on our own to pick from, but there was something inside of me that kept telling me I should write my own father/daughter dance song for Lauren as a wedding gift.

On the Wednesday before Lauren's Saturday wedding, I met with Lauren and Stacy (her  fiancé) so they could choose some timber from a fallen tree that I would cut for use as part of their wedding altar.  During that meeting, Lauren warned me that the wedding was Saturday and we hadn't picked a song yet.  I looked at Lauren and Stacy and announced to them that I was going to write the father/daughter dance song.  According to my wife, Benita, Lauren and Stacy looked at me with shock and horror since the wedding was Saturday, and this was now Wednesday.

That evening, I came home and wrote the lyrics to "My Little Girl," but I just couldn't get the right melody I was looking for.  Benita told me to come to bed and that she was confident the music would come to me by morning.  Sure enough, I woke up and immediately went to work on the melody for the song, and I had the entire demo of the song conquered by 10:00am on Thursday.  I called Stacy a few minutes later and left him a voice message that I had finished the father/daughter dance song, and if he had any time available, I was hoping he could create a professional piano track for me to record vocals with.  Stacy produces music, and since he is so talented on the keyboard, it was my hope that he would find the time to create the piano track.  Stacy called me back later that day and agreed to do the track.  I emailed my demo of the song to Stacy on Thursday at noon, and on Friday at noon,  I was at Stacy's studio recording the vocal track to the wonderful piano track Stacy had recorded Thursday afternoon.  Once the vocal track was recorded, Stacy mixed the song and added it to their wedding soundtrack.  I was so proud of the way the song came together and sounded!

On Saturday, the wedding ceremony proceeded with love and amazement, and at the wedding reception afterwards, Lauren heard "My Little Girl" for the very first time as we danced to the song.  We both had tears in our eyes as we danced, and as I held Lauren tightly in my arms, I realized that my little girl had grown up and was now a happily married woman!  As more tears of pride and joy began to flow for my daughter, I looked at her and sang out these words along with the song, "you will always be my little girl"... and she always will be!!!

Joel