Brett Eldredge, ‘Raymond’ – Lyrics Uncovered

For newcomer Brett Eldredge, the decision to release 'Raymond' as his debut single to country radio was much more than just having a hit. It was a song he was compelled to write and a message he felt was his duty to get out there.

"[The song] came about because my grandmother has Alzheimer's," Eldredge tells Taste of Country. "She'd had it for several years, but three and a half years ago it started to get worse. At that point she hadn't forgotten me, but she had forgotten some people in the family. She was losing a little bit of who she was."

The day after talking to his father about his grandmother's current state of mind, Eldredge had a songwriting appointment with Brad Crisler.

"I told Brad, who I had never even met before, that my grandmother was in a real bad place, and I can't help but have this on my mind right now," Eldredge recalls. "I started telling him a little about it. He was taken in by the story."

The two decided to put the emotions Eldredge was feeling into their song for that day. The opening lyrics sets the stage for a beautiful story that is about to unfold:

"I work down at Ashbury Hills / Minimum wage, but it pays the bills / Cleanin' floors, and leadin' hymns on Sundays / Catherine Davis, room 303 / Sweetest soul you ever could meet / I bring her mornin' coffee every day."

But in the chorus, Eldredge brings the listeners to their knees with the powerful and moving lyrics: "She calls me Raymond, she thinks I'm her son / She tells me 'Get washed up for supper before your daddy gets home' / She goes on about the weather, how she can't believe it's pourin' in 1943 / She calls me Raymond, and that's alright by me."

"It was really important to come with that as my first single to introduce myself to country radio," says Eldredge. "It's a message I wanted to get out there as an artist. Writing 'Raymond' was such a magical thing. It only happens every once in a while as a songwriter when you get a [song like this one]. When I walked out of the room that day, it just felt like something special happened."

Watch Brett Edlredge's 'Raymond' Video