Steve Hofmeyr has never made a secret of the fact that he is absolutely obsessed with his seven-year-old curly-headed daughter, Romy-Lee.
The singer regularly shares snippets from the life of the adorable big-eyed on social media, which indicates a close bond between father and daughter, and he has also now written and recorded a song for her.
He has actually been singing the song for a while, but it is so popular in his shows that he had no choice but to record it and release it as a single, says Steve in RNews’s studio.
The song is called “Romy” and the Afrikaans lyrics are written to the beat and melody of “Cindy”, the famous song of old. At the time, the group Peter, Sue & Marc dominated Springbok Radio’s hit parade with the original, English version of the song.
“I reckoned that few young people would remember the song, but I’m surprised how many people do know the song. I know now why the song didn’t mean so much to me at the time, because I was a child myself.
“The things that are written in that song, you can only understand when you become a parent yourself, and this neurosis descends on you and you realize that you are in control of this child’s life.”
According to Steve, he and the piano player Rocco de Villiers have been looking for a project to tackle together for years, and he couldn’t think of anyone better who could capture the sentimental sound of the piano like Rocco.
“The song has a beautiful tune that I didn’t tinker with at all. This is not a post-modern exercise: I search that tune, I’m looking that sentiment and the beautiful piano, all I had to do was write the lyrics in Afrikaans. I did not translate it directly, except for one stanza.
“I called Rocco and invited him to the studio and said just do what you always do – and there he does it perfectly. In the music video I play the piano, but don’t tell mefool it’s Rocco’s piano playing,” laughs Steve.
The music video provides some heartwarming and comical moments, as Romy-Lee teaches her father a little about the art of ballet.
“It took a bit of convincing, but Romy-Lee plays with me in the video. There is a bit of a catharsis in the video, so if you cried, you can laugh too, because I hit my name with a board.
“The camera really loves Romy-Lee and those big eyes of hers that shine so brightly. She melts you. Then Daddy comes in with denims and a T-shirt, and stretches a few hamstrings while I do ballet,” reveals Steve with a laugh.
Steve says he was surprised when he sang the song for the first time during a performance to see how many parents, grandmothers and grandfathers wiped away the tears.
“I can recommend becoming a parent again at an older age. Grandmas and grandpas will tell you how nice it is, and suddenly you are in control of your priorities and you can spend all your time with your child, as much as you want. This little girl melts me, and she wraps me around her little finger.”
Steve will soon be back at the Voortrekker Monument in two massives Steve does Steve– concerts to see. Steve plans to sing some of his biggest hits, and reveals that he recently saw during a sampling that his hit, “Pumpkin”, remains his most popular song with his fans.
“I have 230 songs that I have written that have been recorded, that’s 35 albums full of music. I can pick and choose what I’m going to do and all I need is for you to come out there for the night. We had rain with the previous concerts, which was not nice, but we have now had a year to pray for an open-air evening.”
The concerts take place on 27 and 28 April in the Voortrekker Monument’s Amphitheater. Tickets and information are available on the website, Steve Doen.
“Romy” is available on all major digital platforms.
- Listen to the full studio interview with Steve Hofmeyr at the top of the article.
Watch the music video here:
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