"Raymond" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Brett Eldredge. It was released on September 27, 2010, as the first single from his debut studio album ''

Bring You Back ''Bring You Back'' is the debut album by American country music artist Brett Eldredge. It was released on August 6, 2013 by Atlantic Records. The album was originally titled ''One Way Ticket'', and was to include Eldredge's second single " It Ain ...

''. Eldredge wrote the song with Brad Crisler.

Content

"Raymond" tells the story of a maintenance worker at a nursing home and his relationship with a patient with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, who believes that the maintenance worker is her son Raymond, who was a private killed in action in Vietnam in 1971. Eldredge was inspired to write the song because his grandmother had Alzheimer's disease for several years.

Critical reception

Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' gave the song four and a half stars out of five, calling it "one of those rare debut singles that gets your attention right away, while at the same time showing off a great deal of vocal and songwriting talent." The song also received a "thumbs up" from ''Engine 145'' reviewer Janet Goodman, who wrote that it "is an impressive debut single with a vocal performance that blends earthiness with emotional highs, and a message that manages to remain sugar-free while leaving us with its hopeful refrain of kindness."

Music video

Shaun Silva directed the music video which premiered in October 2010.

Chart performance

"Raymond" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of October 16, 2010.

Year-end charts

References

{{Brett Eldredge Songs about the military Songs about soldiers Songs of the Vietnam War 2010 debut singles 2010 songs Brett Eldredge songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Brad Crisler Songs written by Brett Eldredge Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Songs about mental health