In our story, day after day, season after season, a hardworking female bartender places a full pint of Guinness onto the same empty table. In the end, we discover for whom this vigil is being kept: a man in uniform. This soldier, like the product itself, is “made of more.”

In the end of our Guinness “Empty Chair” commercial, we reveal a U.S. serviceman coming home. So, when discussing music, we knew we wanted an American melody.

As we explored potential existing tracks to adapt, we made a conscious decision to avoid anything too well known or expected. Why? Because an instantly recognizable song would bring unwanted baggage – and take the viewer out of our simple story. In addition, we didn’t want to “tip our hand” to the emotional ending.

In the end, we landed on a late 19th-century American hymn that most people would find vaguely familiar, but wouldn’t be able to place.

With the help of our music house friends at Human, we first explored string-led orchestrated arrangements, but they felt too schmaltzy. The piano allowed us to be very spare. And the simple composition married nicely to the bartender's simple, repeated gesture of placing down the pint.