This is where the song comes from. There are no wrong answers, and you don't need to write neatly — half-sentences are perfect. The more ordinary the detail, the better it usually sounds.
Names and dates, so we spell and pronounce everything correctly.
So we can send you your private link for approving guests' messages, and check anything we're unsure about.
Names are the single most powerful thing in a keepsake song. Hearing your own name sung is what makes people cry. Please give us as many as you can — and tell us how each one is pronounced if it isn't obvious.
The history. Parents, home, the road that got them here.
If either has passed away, say so here and tell us in section 7 how you'd like them honoured.
This is the section that stops the song sounding like anyone else's.
Two or three real stories beat a page of adjectives. Small ones are best.
Only if it's theirs to tell and they'd be happy for it to be mentioned. We'll handle it gently, or leave it out — your call in section 7.
We write the song to suit them, not the charts.
The most important section on this page. We would far rather know now than get it wrong in front of a room full of people. Nothing you write here is ever shown to anyone.
Named gently, mentioned without naming, or not at all. Tell us which.
Estrangements, divorces, difficult history. No explanation needed — a name is enough.
Health, money, work, a particular period of life, an old nickname they've outgrown.
So the film is cut to the room it's playing in.
Press the button and your answers are copied, ready to paste into WhatsApp or email. Nothing is uploaded from this page — it stays on your device until you send it.
Copied. Paste it wherever you like — and if you remember something next week, come back, add it, and send again. Later is fine.
We read everything, write the words, and send them to you before anything is produced — so you see every line first and can change it. Then the song is made and the film is cut to it. If someone asks you what this is, here's the honest version:
Every one of them starts the same way: this form, and a set of photos. You read the words free before you decide. gatherwall.com