Vanessa, a 17-year-old songwriter from Exeter, has written and recorded a very special song in memory of her brother, Jordan, who died just after Christmas in 2023, aged 10. The family have been supported by Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) since January 2015 after being referred due to Jordan’s diagnosis of a life-limiting condition called Menkes Disease, Occipital Horn Syndrome.
Vanessa, who had always wanted to write a song about her brother Jordan, shares that the process of writing and recording her song ‘You are the Reason’ has really helped her over the last year.
“Writing a song for my brother Jordan was an idea of mine since forever, for my little hero but also my big hero. He always loved it when I sang to him, he smiled at me, which made it feel special and since then it was an everyday idea to do this. Jordan taught me a lot of things and made me appreciate life even more.”
“I made this song as singing has always been my passion and it is how I am able to express my feelings. Every day this song helps me, but this is the kind of song where it doesn’t only relate to me, it can relate to anyone who is going through a hard time.”
Vanessa You are the Reason
Vanessa’s idea to write a song about her brother became a reality with the support from Ceridwen Rees, Lead Music Therapist at Little Bridge House and the Cameron Mills Group, a recording studio in Exeter, who teamed up to support making Vanessa’s dream a reality.
Ceridwen said: “I have the privilege of being the Lead Music Therapist at Little Bridge House. When a child dies, it is sometimes really difficult to articulate how we feel, and when it is your little brother who has died, it must be almost impossible. I met with Vanessa six times between March and October to support her in her wish to use song-writing to articulate and express her emotions following the loss of her brother. This is truly one of the most powerful and poignant songs I have had the privilege of being a part of in my 27 years as a music therapist.”
“My role at the hospice is to offer children, siblings and parents opportunities to express themselves through music-making. I offer individual and group sessions: on any one day I might be sitting at the bedside of a poorly child in the morning and just singing to them and then in the afternoon I might be coordinating a Karaoke session!”
Cameron Mills who recorded the song for Vanessa shares that he was so inspired by Vanessa’s song: “We were delighted to make CHSW our chosen charity for the year as we work with hundreds of families across the South West and understand how vital their work is. Shortly after partnering with CHSW I was contacted regarding a young girl who wanted to record a single for her brother. This amazing young lady was Vanessa. Vanessa came to the studio with Ceridwen to work on her single ‘You are the Reason’ and we were blown away by her talent and could tell from the first note how special this song was. She spent two days in the studio in total and the end-product is simply amazing. Vanessa is a star in the making and an absolute joy of a person to work with. I hope you enjoy listening to the single as much as we enjoyed making it together.”
The team at the recording studio
With Jordan’s condition Vanessa explains that he had his own way of communicating that his family understood: “My brother was disabled, he couldn’t talk or walk, but when you live with someone for 10 years you know how to communicate with them. Jordan communicated in his own way, but we understood it. He decided it was his time to go last year in December, which obviously is really sad and hurts all of us but I’m happy that he’s not in pain anymore.”
“Jordan was always a very happy boy, he never really cried, he never moaned about anything. Even when he saw me and my family upset or if we had tears in our eyes, he always put a smile on his face or started laughing which brightened up our moods and made us a lot happier. He was just bright and jolly, he was amazing.”
Vanessa’s song is very emotive, talking about her feelings about her brother. It also contains lyrics in Polish: “It was important for me to include Polish in the song because my family’s Polish and even though we grew up here in England, I spoke to my brother in Polish so I thought it would be quite important for me to include that. “
Ceridwen and Vanessa at the recording studio
The song ‘You are the Reason’ launched on Spotify on Friday 27 December on the anniversary of Jordan’s death. You can listen to the full song on the Children’s Hospice South West YouTube channel https://youtu.be/JI_idJZ86DY