Lukas Nelson has shared several covers on social media proving how well he can transform someone else’s songs. Most recently, though, he proved he can pluck an old song from his discography and make it sound fresh. Last week he performed a new version of “Set Me Down on a Cloud” during a livestream for his fans and followers.
Last Friday (January 10), Nelson shared the video of his solo performance of “Set Me Down on a Cloud” on social media. He recorded the song twice with Promise of the Real. It first appeared on their 2016 album Something Real. The band recorded it again with Lucius for their 2017 self-titled album. Both full-band recordings are top-tier. However, Nelson’s stripped-down solo piano performance allows the heart of the song to show. In the clip below, “Set Me Down on a Cloud” is as beautiful as it is moving.
The Heartbreaking Story That Inspired Lukas Nelson to Write “Set Me Down on a Cloud”
“Set Me Down on a Cloud” is about a painful loss followed by deep sadness. The story behind it is utterly heartbreaking.
“This lady, her and her husband accidentally somehow ran over and killed their four-year-old daughter,” Lukas Nelson said of the inspiration for the song. “They came to one of my shows, and they said it was the first time they were able to feel happy since that occurrence, and they asked me to write a song about it,” he explained.
“I was very honored to be able to write about that situation and try to capture it in the art,” he recalled. “I felt like a spirit was guiding me.”
Nelson wrote the song from the perspective of the parents as they sat in the hospital, waiting to hear if their child would survive. Knowing the story behind the song makes some standout lines feel much more emotionally heavy. For example, the touching lines And there’s only one thing in this / World to let me heal / Baby open up your eyes and / Tell me you’re not leavin’ become a dagger to the heart after learning what they truly mean.
