Sam Smith - Lay Me Down (S. Smith, J. Napes, E. Smith) ~ Erwin Lazaro 177

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Sam Smith was the artist that took my household by storm during the summer of 2014. My wife came home one day with his debut studio album In the Lonely Hour and said that we needed to listen to this man sing.  My entire family listened and replayed his album over and over and over again. We made a few road trips and replayed Sam Smith’s CD over and over and over again. We didn’t listen to anything else for a few weeks. Of course, my children noticed some of the inappropriate nuances of the lyrics, but the music was too beautiful and powerful. My wife and I couldn’t suppress our appreciation for the talent of Sam Smith and the sensual nature of his music. The marvelously multi-layered musical compositions are masterpieces appreciated much like appreciating the statue of David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created by Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet Michelangelo. A giant, naked man is inappropriate for all ages to witness, yet its exquisite artistry is a public treasure for all to enjoy at the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy.

I do have to mention that my family had enjoyed Sam Smith’s voice, especially on British garage-house duo Disclosure’s song “Latch” released in October 2012. He had already made a distinct, lasting impression in my mind as an artist to seek when he released his own album. Obviously, I was ecstatic to embrace the incredible music Sam Smith shared with the world. His voice has countless layers that fill the depths of his music with full bodied flavor. In my opinion, he is the man with the golden voice for contemporary pop music.

My voice pales in comparison to Sam Smith’s voice, but I had to cover, at least, one of his songs. “Lay Me Down” is my favorite ballad, though he actually sings it in a variety of ways. I found an acoustic instrumental version on YouTube.  It was created by Lewis Rose-Matthews.  He used GarageBand as the software.  I enjoyed his version so Lewis Rose-Matthews is credited for the wonderful reproduction. “Thank you very much, Lewis!”

From Wikipedia:

"Lay Me Down" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Sam Smith and the lead single from his debut studio album In the Lonely Hour (2014). The song was released in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2013. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 134 and re-entered on 23 February 2014 at number 46 after being mentioned by James Corden at the 2014 BRIT Awards. The song was written by Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes and Elvin Smith.