The Paris, IL, native was visiting Nashville for the first time early in his sophomore year at Chicago's Elmhurst College. He was at the Station Inn, an historic bluegrass/country venue where many of the greats of both worlds have played. His cousin Terry, a veteran of Dolly Parton's band and now a member of the Grascals, was playing with a band called the Sidemen, and a mesmerized Brett was in the crowd.
"There was something so real and truthful about the songs they were playing," he says. “What happened next came as a shock.”
"He asked me to come up on stage and told me to pick a song to play with the band," says Brett. I said, 'Amarillo By Morning,' and when I heard that fiddle intro, chills shot up my spine. I sang it for the crowd there and it was a magical experience. That was the point where I thought, 'This is it. This is something I've got to do.'"
By the start of the next school year, he had transferred to Middle Tennessee State University and begun the round of writers' nights and writing appointments that led him eventually to a record deal.
The talent that let him turn that dream into reality—the depth of his writing and the sheer power of his smoky and expressive baritone—are both apparent in his first single. "Raymond" is the poignant tale of a nursing home employee mistaken by a patient with Alzheimer's for her deceased son, who was killed at war. It is a song whose inspiring reaffirmation of their mutual humanity is affecting listeners deeply. The single rings true for Eldredge as his Grandmother currently struggles through the disease.
"There are a lot of things I'll play live where people will say, 'I like that,' or 'That's a really cool song,'" Brett says, "but when I do this one, I get the chance to tell people how special a thing it's been in my life, and it always touches someone. A lot of people know someone with Alzheimer's and people react in a really emotional way to it."
Brett has earned a reputation as much for the strength of his writing as for his world-class voice. He and co-writer Pat McLaughlin landed a song called "I Think I've Had Enough" on Gary Allan's latest album, Get Off On The Pain, and one of his frequent collaborators is Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry stalwart Bill Anderson.
"He's one of my favorite people to write with," says Brett. "I love the fact that he believes in country music so much, because it's something I really believe in. My dream, as I find my place in country music, is one day to be an Opry member."
Brett heard all kinds of music growing up, and became a particular fan of the classic pop singers he heard in his grandfather's car.
"I heard a lot of Frank Sinatra, who is still a favorite of mine, and Ray Charles and Bobby Darin," he says. "When my mother convinced me to sing 'Mack The Knife' at a talent show, I got hooked on singing in public."
That was in Paris, a town of 9,000 with "cornfields and factories and lake right in the middle." Brett, his older brother and his parents—a traveling grain salesman and a nurse—lived on the lake and, says Brett, "We were on the water every day, from the time I was so little they could pull me on water skis in a paddle boat until I left for college at 18." Sports were a big part of his life, and he played basketball, baseball and football in high school.
He also sang everywhere he could, often the Big Band music of Sinatra, earning spending money and learning to work a stage. His appreciation for country music became a passion when he turned 16 and he and a friend rode around listening to a Brooks & Dunn greatest hits album.
"There was something about it that just struck me," he says. "I couldn't get enough of it. Ronnie Dunn is one of my favorite singers of all time—I love the soul in his voice—and one of the main reasons I got into this in the first place."
Brett spent two years in Chicago, where his older brother lived, performing with a school jazz band and with a Big Band around the region.
"One of the coolest gigs," he says, "was at the Field Museum, I was singing in front of a 12-piece band under this huge Tyrannosaurus Rex statue near some mammoths. It was quite the experience."
Then came that fateful visit to Nashville and his transfer to MTSU. He studied classic country stylists like Ray Price and George Jones, and later Vince Gill, absorbing everything he could.
"I was driving back and forth Nashville every day from Murfreesboro, which is thirty miles away," he says. "I had a guitar Terry had given me, which was originally a gift from Dolly, and I'd pretty much lock myself in my room and make myself learn songs. I would play writers' nights all around Nashville. There might be two people, there might be 40 or 50. I'd go play my songs and see what people liked and what they didn't. I'd screw up royally in front of them, but I learned."
He earned a degree, which, he says, "made Mom and Dad happy, and then I moved on to what I really wanted to do.
A staff writer for hit producer/publisher Byron Gallimore heard him at a writers' night and introduced him to Byron, who signed him.
"I wrote for about two years, developing my craft and writing with everyone I could. In the beginning, Byron just let me kind of find myself, because that takes a while. As you write more you starting homing in on what you sound good on. Eventually, Byron said, 'You've got something here' and we went in and started cutting songs. We did a showcase, and Carole Ann Mobley from Warner Music Nashville said, 'We've gotta sign this kid'. Mobley and Craig Kallman then signed Brett to Atlantic Records, making him the first official signing for the new imprint.
As he worked with his band tightening his show, he was offered a particularly gratifying gig.
"I opened for Blake Shelton at The Ryman and it was the coolest experience. I flew back from this house gig and all of a sudden I'm thrown into playing the Mother Church of Country Music, something I always dreamed of doing. I was operating on almost no sleep, but stepping out on that stage where everybody who's anybody in country music has been meant the world to me."
He remains active in sports, playing basketball and volleyball and playing on an intramural softball team in Nashville, and rooting for the Cubs and Bears. Meanwhile, he is dedicated to improving his craft.
"As a songwriter," he says, "my aim is to portray a little bit of me and my life along with the stories of other people and turn them into something that can really touch somebody's heart and soul. We sit down on Music Row every day and write songs and every once in a while a song like ‘Raymond’ comes from such a real place. I hope it's that real to other people and that I can make them feel the way I felt when I wrote it and when I sing it."
Judging from audience reaction, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Raymond
Brett Eldredge Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Minimum wage, but it pays the bills
Cleanin' floors and leadin' hymns on Sunday
Catherine Davis, room 3-0-3
Sweetest soul you ever could meet
I bring her morning coffee every day
She calls me Raymond
Tells me get washed up for supper
'Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that's alright by me
She talks about the clothes on the line in summer air
Christmas morning and Thanksgiving prayer
And stories of a family, that I never had
Well sometimes I find myself wishin' I'd been there
When she calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
'Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that's alright by me
There's a small white cross in Arlington
Reads Raymond Davis, '71
Until she can see his face again
I'm gonna fill in the best I can
When she calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
'Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that's alright by me
She calls me Raymond
And that's alright by me
In his song "Raymond," Brett Eldredge tells the story of a young man who works at Ashbury Hill for minimum wage. His job includes cleaning floors and leading hymns at the Sunday service. Eldredge writes with a sense of empathy for the character. Everyday Raymond brings Catherine Davis, a patient in room 3-0-3, her morning coffee. Even though she has dementia and mistaken Raymond for her son, Eldredge writes that he is content to be called Raymond because he understands the joy it brings Catherine.
Throughout the song, Eldredge describes Catherine's memories of the past, including clothes drying in the summer air, Christmas morning, and a fictional family that Raymond never had. He stands by her side, filling the gaps in her stories, wishing he had a family of his own. Eldredge highlights how people with dementia have their realities, and it is essential to have compassion for them.
Line by Line Meaning
I work down at Ashbury Hill
I have a job at Ashbury Hill
Minimum wage, but it pays the bills
I earn minimum wage, but at least it pays my bills
Cleanin' floors and leadin' hymns on Sunday
I clean floors and lead hymns on Sundays
Catherine Davis, room 3-0-3
I know Catherine Davis, who's staying in room 303
Sweetest soul you ever could meet
She's the sweetest person I've ever met
I bring her morning coffee every day
I give her coffee every morning
She calls me Raymond
Catherine calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Catherine believes I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
She tells me to wash up before dinner
'Fore your daddy gets home
Before your father comes home
She goes on about the weather
Catherine talks a lot about the weather
How she can't believe it's already 1943
She can't believe that it's already 1943
She talks about the clothes on the line in summer air
She talks about the clothes hanging on the line in the summertime
Christmas morning and Thanksgiving prayer
She talks about Christmas morning and Thanksgiving prayer
And stories of a family, that I never had
She tells me stories about a family I never knew
Well sometimes I find myself wishin' I'd been there
Sometimes I wish I had been there with her family
There's a small white cross in Arlington
There's a small white cross in Arlington
Reads Raymond Davis, '71
It has the name Raymond Davis and the year 1971
Until she can see his face again
Until Catherine can see her son's face again
I'm gonna fill in the best I can
I'll do my best to fill his place
She calls me Raymond
Catherine still calls me Raymond
And that's alright by me
But it's okay with me
She calls me Raymond
Catherine calls me Raymond one more time
And that's alright by me
And I'm okay with that
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: BRETT RYAN ELDRIDGE, TRUMAN BRADLEY CRISLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@micahnightwolf
This song reminds me of a story. Just Stay:
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward,
holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused.
Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her, “Who was that man?” he asked.
The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.
“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”
“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”
“I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I knew how much he needed me. I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this gentleman’s name?”
The nurse with tears in her eyes answered, “Mr. William Grey …”
The next time someone needs you … just be there. Stay.
@freerealmfighter
I love this song. I work at a care facility and have been someone's daughter, neighbor, and childhood friend. That's alright by me
@christiangilmer9027
Same
@JHnat
Is one allowed to walk in and ask to volunteer to help? After, the overtly caution is down to a normal level of be careful but don't let virus run your life.
I feel even more for the elderly because of how closed off they are even more so. I've always wanted to help, but I get scared of not knowing the protocol to assist.
@ameliacatlover1985
When I was in middle School I volunteered 300 plus hours at a nursing home that was right across the street from my school and there was a little lady that had dementia really bad she thought I was her friend. Even though we talked about the same things everyday I enjoyed it so much and now due to my medical problems I can't work around people like that it breaks my heart because I know there's so many that don't have families 🥺
@ameliacatlover1985
@@JHnat you can definitely volunteer, I used to do it when I was in middle School I'm 35 now and can't do it anymore because of health conditions unfortunately. I absolutely loved it and miss it a lot
@TheDrewcifur
I'm a chaplain for a few and I've been the same. It breaks my heart. I can't listen to this song without balling like a baby.
@emilywilson2084
Can we get a lifetime movie based on this song? It’s so beautiful and I feel like it hits home for so many people ❤
@MidgetDevilChild01
He actually wrote this song for his grandma that was suffering from alzheimers. He told us that at the eagles nest when I saw him there a few years back.
@candiwardteeslink3600
❤
@raymondpowell739
Hugs 😢