The Time Sheryl Crow Was Tone Deaf

“They have their own voice talent for the ad,” Aric said.

“Okay, anyone we know?” I asked.

“Sheryl Crow.”

“Oh.”

I was excited. I had written for national radio talk show hosts in both the U.S. and Canada, but this was different. I was writing for a world-class songwriter! Through a family member connection of the client, Crow was going to voice an ad for a local coffeehouse in St. Louis (Crow is from Missouri).

I was to write – a promotion for breast cancer awareness month (Crow is a survivor) – a sixty-second radio script for her to voice. I would write it, client would approve it and send it to her on tour. She would record it on her bus.

Naturally, this was my big break, right? I was going to dazzle her so brightly that she’d want me to help her co-write her next record.

Except it didn’t work out that way.

Oh, I wrote my little fanny off.

I was there.  (pause)

That’s what you’ll tell her.  (pause)

On that day in the not-too-distant-future when doctors announce to the world they discovered the cure for breast cancer.  (pause)

On that day, you’ll remember how – in October of 2006 – you went to your local Kaldi’s coffeehouse … and helped change the world.  (pause)

Hi. This is Sheryl Crow. One out of every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. I know. I was one of them.

Which is why I’ve teamed up with Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Company to ask for your help and support in raising money during October – National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Stop by a Kaldi’s coffeehouse and look for my display. Proceeds throughout October will help us make ready for the day.

The day the world will cheer. The day families will embrace. The day we’ll know we made a difference.

The day you’ll tell your daughter, “I was there.”

Rad, huh?

But it turned out Crow was tone deaf to my copy.

It wasn’t her fault.

She didn’t know the melody – only the lyrics.

Had I provided her with a sample of how it sounded in my head, I would have had much greater success, and … no doubt … a publishing contract with her label.

Since then, I always make an effort to let a client know how an ad sounds in my head before they ever read it.

There’s always a voice, isn’t there? Even when we read silently in the mind, we still hear someone’s voice. Maybe it’s yours. Maybe it’s Sheryl Crow’s. Maybe it’s Morgan Freeman’s.