Above – My grandaughter Camille with “Special Kitty” and the blanket that Grandma Dawnie made for her. (Photo ~ Tasha Chenard)
This article is part of a series called, “Every Song has a Story”. The series is about the stories behind the songs on my album, Go and Make Heaven Proud.
Contents
The Story
“Bapa, let’s dance!!!”
My oldest granddaughter Camille was almost two years old, and that warm, fall evening, we had decided to walk over to see my parents, John and Sue Gay. Mom and Dad lived in a retirement home called “The Chateau”. It always seemed like a miracle to me that they lived only a couple of blocks away. I could easily pop over and say hello anytime.
It was a surreal moment that I will never forget. The sun was setting and as we walked across an open field to the Chateau, we walked up on a little hill and there in the autumn twilight, Camille and I danced.
It was like a scene right out of one of those Hallmark movies, one that I knew I would never forget.
We continued on our journey and soon we were laughing and playing with two little dalmatian stuffies on the floor of my parent’s comfortable suite.
My parents adored their first great grandchild and I remember showing the picture of her on the “desktop” of Grandma Sue’s computer.
On that desktop was an icon that was labeled, “Sweet Camille.mp3”.
Mom talked about how much she loved the song and dad said, “Oh yeah, Greggle my boy, you need to put that to pictures then I can click the mouse on it and play it like a movie.. You could make a lot of money on that my boy!!!”
We had first greeted Camille Joy Koch into our family and our lives on Thanksgiving Day, two years earlier. It was truly a joyous time for all of us as the birth had gone well and Dawn and I celebrated by eating a complete thanksgiving dinner right in the hospital room That Camille’s other grandma, Terryl, had brought with her.
Every Song has a Story – Part 1: Her words sparked something deep in my heart.My wife, Dawn and I had decided that she would make a blanket for every grandchild that came along, and that I would write and record a song for them.
Dawn had made good on her promise of a beautiful, handmade blanket, and soon, we set out on the five hour journey up to the little farm house where Camille lived with our daughter Melody, and her husband, Nolan.
I had thought about different song ideas for Camille as we had travelled but nothing that really struck me as a keeper.
During our visit and in between fulfilling my mandate to mom to send her a steady stream of pics, I got to spend some one-on one time with Camille.
I was no stranger to writing songs for children since both of my daughters had grown up with their own special songs, as well as a plethora of other crazy little jigs and ditties’ that I was constantly coming up with. There were such hits as, “Baby Bubbles”, “Hey Little Girl”, “Oh My Tasha”, “You are a Melody”, and “It’s Time to go Night Night”, just to name a few.
I didn’t want Camille’s song to be forced. I wanted it to be born out of who she really was, and to be something that would be meaningful to her for the rest of her life.
As I held that beautiful little baby girl in my arms, I asked God for just the right song for her. I began to think of just how sweet she was, and I started to sing, “Oh we love you Sweet Camile” and it just went from there.
(You can skip ahead and listen to “Sweet Camille” in the player below this line.)
Travelling is not always my favorite pastime since there is so much amplified road noise from my hearing aid, I can’t enjoy a conversation. All of that can be painful and even make me sick. These are not pleasant circumstances for a long drive and sometimes I find it heartbreaking because I want to spend that time talking with Dawn. I did not have this problem then, but now, I can’t see anything either. So, that means, no reading, texting friends or looking at the scenery.
As with many things in life that don’t go quite as we wish they would, these things though, I have learned that there is an upside if you look for it. I am very blessed in that God has given me a mind that works like a recording studio. Like many musicians, I can add and replace the parts of a song just in my mind. I can try different guitar, drum, bass, piano, vocal and even orchestra (only if I had one) parts in my mind and rearrange them and play with them until they are just right.
Songs do not always end up just as I imagine them. Sometimes they can change quite a bit when I pick up a real instrument, but they are often pretty close to the virtual studio in my head.
By the time we got home, Dawn had endured hours of me “drumming” with my hands, humming, singing and stomping. I had the music down and the chorus was written in stone, but the verses would come later.
I had imagined EVERYONE on both sides of the family singing to Camille in a giant choir, fly-by music video. “Oh we love you sweet Camille, We want ‘cha to know that heaven’s real…”
Then I envisioned a special birthday party in the not-too-distant-future that would be a “Great big special day”.
I loved it!
But eternity was also on my mind.
You see, just a short time before Camille was born, we had learned that mom had cancer and I knew that we might not have her with us for long. It was not hard to notice her slow and gradual decline as she began to walk very slowly and as she would say, “The ‘ole grey mare, she ain’t what she used to be!”
It was then that I drew the parallels between a great big day here on earth and the one that we will also have in heaven one day when we are all reunited.
My hope is to leave Camille and all my family with that Hope we have in Christ.
Mom and dad now have a new, comfortable suite in heaven.
As of this writing, Sweet Camille calls me “Grandpa” instead of “Bapa” and she has grown into a beautiful and delightful seven-year-old with a kind and gentle heart. She is a very intelligent girl who excels in everything that she does. She reads “chapter books” about Wayne Gretzky, Seabiscuit and Amelia Earhart. When we all get together, she reads to me, and it is always a great big special day!!
I love Camille with all my heart, and sometimes we dance!
The Song
Recording “Sweet Camille”
When I recorded “Sweet Camille”, my vision and hearing were a lot better than they are now.
I had been recording music since 1980 when I got my first little Yamaha 4-track studio. Through all those years, I had tried to sing a few songs here and there, but it was never even plausible. I couldn’t believe just how bad I was!!!
This song was very touching and emotional to me since I was thinking about Camille and mom. I just had to sing it and somehow, through all the tears, I managed to sing “Sweet Camile”. The biggest highlight of all was in having my daughter Melody (Camille’s mom) sing harmony. I remember when she said, “Hey dad, we got that daddy daughter sound going!”
That was pretty cool.
On the album, Go and Make Heaven Proud, there are a few “Song Renovation Projects”, where I took a song that I had recorded at a “demo level” a few years back and then went and replaced almost everything with new and improved tracks. This was not the case with “Sweet Camille”. I left this one just as it was originally recorded.
When I started thinking through the arrangement, I heard a piano ballad. That may sound a little strange for a guitar player, but over the years I had written quite a few piano ballads. I had worked with Corinna Montgomery (see Credits) for many years, and she is an absolute master of the piano ballad.
Corinna was not available to play at that time, so I sequenced the piano and tried to get it to sound close to her skillful interpretation that I heard in my head.
I do not consider myself a musical ace, but I do seem to find ways to get things done.
I did not have an acoustic guitar at this time, so I did what I could do with my Les Paul and I was pretty happy with how it all turned out.
Credits
- Produced by Greg J. Gay
- Written and arranged by Greg J. Gay
- Recorded at Expressong Studios. (Greg’s office)
- Mixed and Mastered by The Mix Master – Daryl Wilson.
- Lead Vocals – Greg J. Gay
- Background Vocals – Melody Koch
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Piano Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
“Sweet Camille” Lyrics
© Greg J. Gay – 2015
Verse 1
Daddy’s gonna buy a present
Momma’s gonna bake a cake
Grandma’s gonna knit a sweater
Grandpa’s gonna sing and play
Verse 2
Auntie’s gonna light the candles
Uncle’s gonna make a face
We’re gonna have a party
Oh it’s gonna be, a great big special day
Chorus
Oh we love ya sweet Camille
We want ya know that heaven’s real
So come on let’s sing and play
Oh it’s gonna be
A great big special day
Verse 3
Jesus went and bought forever
His love in our hearts to stay
He’ll wipe our tears and make it better
He’ll make everything ok
Verse 4
Someday we’re gonna have a party
With everybody in that place
Someday we’ll all be together
Oh it’s gonna be, a great big special day!
Expressong 
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