Eliza Stoehrer is a student at Saint Anthony’s High School in South Huntington, NY. In March she was readying to enjoy the best part of her senior year, the last few months leading up to graduation. Coronavirus changed that. Overnight, socializing and learning became distant. Then, one week ago, the devastating news came that no one would be going back to school this year. After crying on the phone with her friends over the crushing sense of loss, Eliza, a talented singer, songwriter and musician, put her feelings into a song. “This One’s For You” is for her classmates and for Class of 2020 students everywhere (click image above to play).
Eliza, who is headed to Molloy College for Music Therapy this fall, has always loved music and has been singing for as long as she can remember. “I’ve been writing songs since elementary school,” she told WYSK, “but it wasn’t until I was about 13 that I started to share them.” As for playing music, drums are Eliza’s main instrument, followed by piano and guitar. “When I was 13, my cousin gave me his old guitar. I loved it, and I’ve been playing ever since.”
She wrote “This One’s For You” in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, trying to process the full gamut of emotions that come with missing school, her friends, and her teachers. Since releasing her song, Eliza said, “I’ve gotten calls and messages from my friends, classmates, and teachers who said I put into words what they were feeling too. It’s so amazing to know that my song has touched so many people.”
Beyond the graduating seniors she knows personally, Eliza hopes her song resonates with others. “I hope it will help them realize that you never know when it might be the last day for something. In other words, we shouldn’t take what’s considered simple, expected, or even ‘normal’ for granted.” She added, “But mostly, I want others to know they are not alone, and it is okay for us to be emotional and feel this loss, but still be hopeful.”
“This One’s for You” by Eliza Stoehrer:
Walked through the door, just a day like any other,
How were we supposed to know there’d never be another,
Now we’re stuck in our heads.
Missing the days we used to beg to get through,
Wishing we could just turn back the clocks.
The day I got back home, how could I have known?
That was the day we didn’t know was our last
Guess we grew up too fast, now we’re missing all our friends.
Here’s to the show we never got to do,
Games you never got to play,
The memories that we made.
To the ones who weren’t ready to go,
You were learning how to take it slow,
This one’s for you.
Four short years, it went so fast.
Now I wish I could go back, to freshman year.
Warn myself the ending’s hard, harder than expected.
And tell myself, you’re gonna miss this.
The day I got back home, how could I have known?
That was the day we didn’t know was our last
Guess we grew up too fast, now we’re missing all our friends.
Here’s to the show we never got to do,
Games you never got to play,
The memories that we made.
To the ones who weren’t ready to go,
You were learning how to take it slow,
This one’s for
Looks like we learned a lesson, never take anything for granted,
But man it hurt like hell.
Hold on to the memories, the friends we made and lost well they all made us who we are,
And who we’ll be.
So, here’s to the day we didn’t know was our last,
And growing up too fast, one day we’ll see our friends.
Here’s to the show we never got to do,
Games you never got to play,
The memories that we made.
To the ones who weren’t ready to go,
You were learning how to take it slow,
Yeah the you and me’s I want you to know
This one’s for you
This one’s for you.
“This One’s for You” lyrics published on Women You Should Know with the express permission of Eliza Stoehrer.