SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Song for daughter, picked up by music mogul
by JILL SCHMELZER

Phil Martin

It's the day almost every girl dreams of her entire life - her wedding day. She wants everything to be perfect, including the father-daughter dance at the reception. It's the vision of "daddy's little girl" saying good bye to her father and stepping into a new life with her husband.

Phil Martin, 68, wanted his daughter's dance with him to be perfect. A few months before she, Lisa Henrickson, was to be married, he took his love for writing and penned lyrics for that special dance the two would share.

"Shining eyes, wedding bells and candle light ... his little girl is beautiful on her wedding day," the song begins.

He called it "Days of Sunlight," because it reminisced about the times when his three daughters were young and the Martin family would go ice skating, and when his children would ask, "Hey, dad, can you read me a story?"

The whimsical lyrics are the story of a father who isn't quite ready to let go and say goodbye to the vision of when his daughter was 5 and he was the only man in her life.

"Those sunny days through the years are coming back to me ... those days back then, once again are in my reverie. We've had those days of sunlight, we have those memories. Hey, dad, can you read me a story ... Can we dance across the floor," the lyrics went on.

After he wrote the song, Martin contacted Steve Trimper, whom Martin knew from a song he had written about John Wayne. Trimper, a musician and copyright lawyer in Chicago, works with Henrickson. Martin had proposed his first attempt at songwriting to Trimper a few years earlier, but the record deal ultimately fell through.

Martin asked Trimper to set his lyrics about his daughters to music, which he did, and during Henrickson's wedding, Martin surprised her with the gift. The duo waltzed along the dance floor, and after the first verse, were joined by his other two daughters, Kristin Willett and Karen McMahon. For the rest of the verses, the four glided from corner to corner, singing along with tears in their eyes.

"The song is for all my daughters," Martin said. "There is not much old-fashioned things these days." He noted that the song is special for fathers with daughters but still hold meaning to fathers with sons.

After the wedding, Martin contacted Virginia Ruda, who owns Ruda Records. She put Martin in contact with Jimmy Sturr of the Jordanaires, a band from Nashville. Sturr rearranged the song and included it on his CD "Polka in Paradise," retitling it "Sweet Memories of Yesterday."

In July 2006, Sturr recorded the song nationally, and it was in Rounder Records catalog No. 6115. It was recently named to All Music Guide magazine's "Best of Tracks" list.

The Jordanaires performed "Sweet Memories of Yesterday," at Carnegie Hall in New York City this past September.

Martin noted that one of his daughters said to him, "Dad, now you've given us something that will be with us many years from now."

The song will always hold a special place in the Martin family's hearts, but can be danced to by any father and daughter on her wedding day.

"My hope is that someday our grandchildren will dance to 'Sweet Memories' on their wedding day," Martin said. "And now I thank God for this blessing that comes in the twilight of my life."

Martin didn't start writing until after he retired, but he said he has always had great respect for those in the industry with the talent of telling stories. He said he is grateful he has been able to acquire the gift of writing so late in life.

"Thank God for the good times, those memories that shine. They all grow in value with the passing of the time. When the years that pass us by, that's when we realize those days in the sunlight are the best days of our life," the song went on.

"Polka in Paradise" can be purchased on Amazon.com and at local Barnes & Noble stores. "Sweet Memories of Yesterday" is also available online.