When I wrote this, I had it in my mind that I wanted a song for my dad to sing. He was a musician in his youth, the front man of Waterfall, a Sacramento area rock band in the early 1970s. He has been my primary musical influence all my life. Looking back, I believe I was drawn to music through him, and wanted to be able to share music with him.

     After I finished writing and recording the basic backing track in 2009, we discussed his vocals and he set about interpreting the melody in his own way. For various reasons I set the project on the back burner. In the back of my mind I remember wondering if I'd put it off too long, knowing that life is fleeting and we don't get younger. In September 2012 my fear was made real when he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. The doctor felt he wouldn't make it another year.

     Among all the other difficult emotions and thoughts, one of them was regret for never having finished our song. His health was deteriorating rapidly, and no one knew how much longer he'd last. But at that point I decided I needed to finish the song. I set to work immediately and finished the backing track. I hired a drummer and a pedal steel guitar player, and played and sang the remaining parts myself. Then I told my dad we were ready to do his vocals.

     He was frail in January when the time came to record his parts. He sat in a chair to sing, but despite the damage the cancer had done to his body, he sang beautifully. Being there with him, hearing him pour his heart into his voice for a song I wrote, was very moving and difficult. We both knew this would likely be our first and last song together, although we avoided talking about it. He finished his vocal quickly, needing only 2 or 3 takes and only a few punch ins. That's an impressive caliber of performance for even a healthy singer. He decided before we started that the bridge section of the song, which modulates to a higher key, was out of his vocal range. Originally the song wasn't meant to be a duet, but the obvious solution seemed for me to sing the bridge. After he left I did just that, and also added the impromptu lines at the end of the song, while he sings "I'll leave behind a better man. A better man than me." I felt compelled to counter "The best that I can do, is one day to be as good as you." It was an ad lib, but felt very powerful to me, and still does to hear it.

     I mixed the song as quickly as I could and gave him a copy. He was very moved by it and told me it was special to him. It was certainly special to me, and various friends and family also expressed appreciation and gratitude at being able to hear him sing.
Only 5 or 6 weeks later, he passed away. The song remains one of the most powerful memories I have of him and, while not biographical, it also represents his life well. He was a good man, a loving man. An every man. He was more than those things, and it pains me that I don't have the time or forum here to put them all down in writing. But suffice to say as we approach two years since his passing, I'm still moved to tell people about him. I want people to hear his voice, to hear his song. I hope you are moved by his performance as much as I am.

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