Pair #7: "We Want to Thank You, Sister Rees"

"WE WANT TO THANK YOU, SISTER REES"
Original Post Date: June 20, 2005
Runtime: 3:22
Genres: Rock Ballad
Compilation Album: Blue Pants

Prompt Summary: [Paid Song] a goodbye song for Sister Kathy Rees, a seminary teacher, from her graduating students

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Here's another one of my personal favorites: "We Want to Thank You, Sister Rees." There's no gimmick here, no laughs; just a heartfelt tribute to someone who touched the lives of her students.

Sister Rees taught an LDS seminary school in Washington State.* If this song is anything to go by, she was an inspirational figure who not only brought out the best in others but also bent over backward to support her students, waking up at ungodly hours of the morning to bring them closer to their God. She gave them all wristbands with inspirational messages about doing the right thing and persevering in the face of adversity.

One of Sister Rees' students paid Andrew to write this song, which is a slow rock ballad in a similar vein to Michael Bolton's hits, as a gift that they could give to her prior to their seminary graduation. It's not about the one student, though, so much as an appreciation from students past, present, and future.

It's extremely wholesome (and oddly catchy), and you might want to have some tissues nearby, just in case.

*Late last year, while listening to "We Want to Thank You…," I decided to find out where Sister Rees is today. Sadly, she passed away in 2019. I hope that this song serves her memory well. It sounds like she was a wonderful human being.