How I wrote ‘In My Daughter’s Eyes’ for Martina McBride

How I wrote In My Daughters Eyes in Songwriting Magazine

Written as a gift for his brother, this noughties classic track by James T. Slater still resonates with parents everywhere

Born in Durham, North Carolina, James T. Slater’s journey took in stays in Atlanta, LA, and Switzerland (where he played and wrote with Belgian supergroup Vaya Con Dios) before finally settling in Nashville in 2002. As a songwriter, he has written for revered musical acts such as Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban and many more – including Sabrina Carpenter. His release Key West Address has become the official song of Key West, earning him the keys to the city.

When looking through Slater’s catalogue, the Martina McBride track In My Daughter’s Eyes stands out as an important song in establishing Slater as a Nashville songwriter of note. A solo credit that earned him an invitation to every co-write in town. Though pipped to the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, the song did bag both a BMI country award and BMI pop award, and remains a modern standard that beautifully captures the enduring bond between a parent and child. So it’s over to James to hear about the song that helped pave his entrance to Music City…

First published in our Nashville special issue

Released: 17 November 2003
Artist: Martina McBride
Label: RCA Nashville
Songwriter: James T. Slater
Producers: Martina McBride, Paul Worley
UK Chart Position: –
US Chart Position: 39

“They all have a story behind them. In My Daughter’s Eyes was actually written in Zurich, Switzerland, in my apartment, before I came to Nashville in 2002. This town is a co-writing town, but before I moved here, I didn’t co-write as much. So that’s an anomaly, because I wrote both lyrics and music myself. It was written just before I came here.

“I was playing with Vaya Con Dios, I’d visited Nashville a time or two, and I thought, ‘Okay, it’s time for me to move.’ After 9/11, I wanted to be closer to my family for the next few years, to see them more. I remember getting that title, and I read an article about Faith Hill, who had three daughters. Martina McBride had three daughters at the time, and Garth Brooks had three daughters. My brother had just had a daughter and I thought, ‘Man, I’m gonna write a gift to him.’

“I was on the tube in London, and I remember everybody was looking down, but there was poetry on the underground. I remember seeing a poem up there, and I’m looking up and it says something about, ‘hand around my finger,’ and I thought, ‘Boy, that’s an interesting idea.’ So if you listen to the bridge its, ‘And when she wraps her hand around my finger…’ So I took that, my brain did. I came back and worked about three weeks on the song, then moved to Nashville. Within a week, I went to the Pancake Pantry, a really great classic old establishment which was here 20 years ago and is still here…

“I had met some people on a writing trip in Ireland and they said, ‘If you move to Nashville, and want to meet Garth Brooks, he loves pancakes. I was naïve and thought, ‘Well, I’ll go play this for Garth Brooks,’ so I went to The Pancake Pantry, and there, walking out, was Garth Brooks. My friend Gordon Kennedy, who I had met in Ireland, had said, ‘Tell him you know me,’ as they were old buddies. So he’s walking out, and I stopped him. I said, ‘Garth, look, I just moved here from Switzerland, I know Gordon Kennedy.’

“He was so nice. He looked at me with those blue eyes, I’ll never forget it. He goes, ‘Okay, you’re a writer. I tell you what. I can’t listen to it now, but drop by my office on 17th Avenue. Drop the CD off and I’ll listen to it.’ So, a day or two later, I went by there and dropped it off. He liked the song and they then told me, ‘Go by the studio Jack’s Tracks, go by there and meet with him.’

“I went by the studio, he was there, and he goes, ‘Man, I love the song, but I’m about to take time off and I’m gonna raise my daughters.’ He really did, he took time off and raised his daughters, and then came back in the last 10 years. I was heartbroken. It was a good metaphor for what I was gonna experience in this town. I’m meeting Garth Brooks, he likes the song, he can’t record the song.”

“When I got here, I figured I better have a girl singing this. I met this publisher, Abby Nemesh, and she was like, ‘I’ve got this girl we need to have sing this. Her name’s Gretchen Wilson and she’s incredible.’ She didn’t have a record deal at the time. I remember going to the studio and Gordon Mote, an incredibly gifted blind session piano player who is still around, absolutely killing it.

How I wrote In My Daughters Eyes in Songwriting Magazine

“So it was Gordon Mote, and then Gretchen came in. I think she was paid $75 to sing it. She came walking in the room, she was this tough country girl and she was like, ‘Okay, I gotta get this done real quick, because my daughter’s in the parking lot and my boyfriend’s out there too and we just had an argument.’

“She goes in, she sings the song, and within two takes she slayed it. I was in another level, Switzerland, and then Nashville. Then she came in and stood against the wall to listen back. As she listened to the playback, I’ll never forget, all her mascara was streaming down her face. I said, ‘Are you all right ma’am?’ This was the first day I’d met her, and she goes, ‘It’s just this song. My daughter’s in the parking lot and we’re having little problems.’ She goes, ‘I sing a lot of demos, but this one…’ and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe we’ve got something.’

“I played the song for Abby, who played it for Martina McBride. Martina McBride had three daughters, and next thing I know, Martina wants to record it. This was literally after I’d been here only three weeks, which is kind of amazing. I was 38 when I came here, I’d had success overseas and stuff, but whatever. So then Martina records it, and, man, it came out. The next thing you know, I’m at the Ryman and she’s performing on Valentine’s Day. Then she played ACMs to a standing ovation. I remember Sheryl Crow was there and Erika Ender, who wrote Despacito.

“It was just coming out, she started performing it, and it was amazing. I remember Phil Vassar, a piano guy here who was very popular at the time and a great writer – he came over and was like, ‘How did you write that when you don’t have a daughter?’ We had a huge ride with that song.

“Here’s the irony. So Martina recorded that song and by the time it came out, Gretchen Wilson got a record deal and recorded Redneck Woman, and that’s the song that beat us at the Grammys.

“Looking back at the song now… I just played a show on Saturday, I play a lot of concerts, and I sold probably 15 handwritten lyrics to In My Daughter’s Eyes, because that song has become what they call an “evergreen”. I think it’s because I didn’t know much then and I was naive, and I just kind of wrote it. I did things you probably wouldn’t do today.

“I’ve learned more now and become a better writer but my naivety… l used ‘heart’ two times in the bridge, whereas now my co-writer would probably change that. So there are words in it that rhyme with each other. But it’s just one of those magic things.

“That song was huge for me, because I ended up getting a publishing deal. Then you get set up with a lot of people, and you start to co-write. Then you co-write a lot, because, once you have success, everybody wants you in the room. So it’s now years later, I’m here at BMG and I’ve been encouraged by them to get back to writing solo. That doesn’t happen that often here. So, more recently, I wrote a song called Guys Named Captain, my first solo write. It’s on Kenny Chesney’s record [Here And Now] and it’s a super special song that was written for my dad, who passed away in that time, as a love letter missing him.

“I guess what I’m saying is, the great thing about that song is it’s really written from the heart. We get together in rooms every day, and we go, ‘Oh, Tim McGraw’s recording in three weeks.’ So it’s a business decision and you kind of go, ‘Let’s write something for that.’ Sometimes that’s great. But songs like, In My Daughter’s Eyes and Guys Named Captain, you sit down and put your heart out there. Those songs have their place too, and that still is one of my favourite songs.”

To find out more about James T. Slater, including his upcoming shows, head to jamestslatermusic.com

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