I first found this song when I was in high school the original version I listened to was by Amy Winehouse, but it was a cover of a song by a band named “The Zutons” but was popularized by Amy Winehouse. In mid 2018, my best friend passed away in a motorcycle accident. We were planning to get a open mic night together, sponsored by his company that he was starting, and me spearheading and putting it together. But he passed away before we got it put together. shortly after his un timely passing, his family was still able to get the open mic night put together. When I was trying to put together about 5 songs to play, I thought of this one that I was learning right before he passed away, and It was a style that I loved. I listened to it over and over and watched his hands to see what he was doing. Shortly before my Friend passed. We took a small road trip and I played it in a cool setting sitting off of a cliff. I hadn’t ever played the song all the way through but we had to take advantage of the cool place we were in. Looking back the timing was sloppy (and rushed) but I had not known the song for very long, but we wanted to get some content started. So I played the song and we got it recorded. About a month after the recording the accident took the one person who truly believed in my music career out of my life, and up until this point it was the hardest thing that I have ever had to endure. But I remember sitting in my room preparing for this open mic night that we were in the middle of planning. His family had decided to put on the open mic night in honor of him and I had to bring some good songs. I practiced using all the free time I had and when it came time to the open mic night, I played some songs that reminded me of him, but the last one I played was my rendition of Valarie. There was of course a lot of emotion and meaning that I had tied to this song and I think they crowd could tell. After I finished I got the first standing ovation from a crowd that I had gotten from a solo performance. Whether I played well or not, the emotion was there, the song that had helped me cope with the loss of a friend had moved everyone who had listened to it that day to cheer and be happy and in the moment. Sometimes this is all that we can ask for. Music is such a powerful thing, It can make us feel any emotion that has ever been felt. and can be our therapist, friend, or anything else we need it to be. This is why I am a musician.