The Brief
A retirement song for Ray, thirty-two years at the company. The brief specified: country, warm roast tone, include the parking spot story, and “one verse that’s a bit much — HR doesn’t need to approve this one.”
Personal Details Used
Thirty-two years tenure. Four managers outlasted. The specific parking spot that had been Ray’s and Ray’s alone for longer than most of the current staff had worked there. A workplace catchphrase. The retirement destination.
Style Direction
1970s country send-off: pedal steel, mid-tempo, that warm slightly-worn quality of a song that feels like it’s been around for a while even though it was just written. Not modern country. Old country. The kind with actual feelings in it.
Lyric Strategy
Three verses: career arc, the parking spot, the future. The roast verse is verse two. The final chorus switches from past tense to future — “we’ll still call Ray” — which lands the emotional note cleanly after the jokes.
What This Example Demonstrates
Retirement songs are one of the most underserved gift categories. The story is long, the audience knows the subject, and a song lands differently than a speech or a card. This is what the Evidence Package tier is built for.