Editor's Note: The Encuentro Madrid Festival this year included an international concert, "Sing Me Something That Speaks to Me of Life," in which the Bay Ridge Band performed "I Want Jesus to Walk With Me." You may view the concert below (the Bay Ridge Band begins at 1:04:30). The English language translation of the concert can be found here.

What follows is Valentina's introduction to the song.

One of the last days of December 2014, I had the opportunity to visit my friend Frank at the hospice where he was spending the last days of his life. As soon as he arrived, he took my hand and asked me to sing for him. I understood well that it would be our last meeting and that he was well aware that he had now reached "the last bridge." It was necessary to sing something true, something worth telling him at that moment, when everything that is ephemeral turns out to be so.

I sang to him "l Want Jesus to Walk With Me" with all the truth I was capable of. But it was his nod, his closed eyes, that made that song even more true for me. When Rafa invited us to participate in this gesture, I proposed this song to the Band, which enthusiastically joined. Despite the distance and the different circumstances we live in, for each of us the months marked by the COVID emergency have clearly revealed what is necessary to live as human beings every moment of our life, every step, up to the "last bridge."

Valentina, Milan, Italy