If you are like most of us, you’d probably agree that 2020 has been pretty much a flop. Especially with regards to being able to see live shows. So, you have no idea just how thrilled I was to hear that Sunny Sweeney was releasing her song “Poet’s Prayer” which she cowrote with Erin Enderlin and Buddy Owens. I had the opportunity to hear her perform this live at The Sunset in Seattle, late 2018. It was an acoustic set with just her and her lead guitar player, Harley Husbands. I fell in love with the song that night and have been waiting for this day to come.

Both the audio and the video recordings (video available on YouTube) were recorded in a studio owned by Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood. The song itself is a prayer asking for protection from the road and its dangers for traveling musicians like herself. One could also presume that some of these dangers might be self-inflicted and thus imply that we, at times, need divine protection from ourselves. The song is also a heartfelt way of telling her friends how much she misses them and wants so much to see them again. That feeling is conveyed well in both the music and its lyrics. Both of which are simple, but that underlies the actual strength of this song.

Lyrically, it’s very straightforward; she doesn’t use flowery language. But that is what makes the song so grounded and heartfelt. And while the song is about missing those you care for, the chorus is still hopeful.

“May our beds be soft/ Coffee strong and hot/ May the angels of the blacktop keep our souls from getting lost/ If there’s a patron saint of troubadours on the road from here to there/ Watch over us/ That’s my three-chord poet’s prayer.”

Musically, it’s uncomplicated and very clean. With Sunny on lead vocals and acoustic guitar and Harley Husbands on acoustic guitar being accompanied by Jake Clayton on dobro and Joanna Janet on backing vocals. I have heard versions of the song with Harley on electric guitar with heavy reverb, but I like this version far better as it captures a strong feeling of melancholy and longing to see your loved ones.

And it is here, in this simplicity, that I believe that the listener can make a strong connection to the song. Especially for those who travel regularly for work or miss someone who does. For me, it’s really hitting home as I am traveling for work and writing this from a hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska on Mother’s Day and would rather be with my family in Washington right now.

During her shows, Sunny also dedicates the song, not just to well-known friends of hers like Cody Jinks, Ward Davis, Whitey Morgan and Tennessee Jet, but to her fans too. Fans who often spend hours driving to make one of her shows. And many of us have made those drives multiple times and will continue for such great country music.

Cody Jinks with Sunny Sweeney | Photo By Melissa Payne

Now, if you ever get the opportunity to see Sunny in a live show, which are always amazing! She likes telling her audience that this business will wear you down and if you stay in it you will end up with a shriveled black heart, like she has. Well… Sunny, no you don’t. You do not have a little black heart. You have a huge heart that feels for your family, friends and fans. I and the rest of us know this because no one with a lump of coal for a heart, as you like to tell us you have, could write songs as you do and especially something as heartfelt and full of emotion as this one.

The single is now available for download on your favorite streaming platform.