Thousands of Nashville songwriters will write for their lifetimes and never see a big-time cut, especially in today’s streaming and AI environments. But Helene Cronin, who has split her time between Texas and Nashville for years, is finally enjoying the fruits of her labor, having landed the Christian-leaning cut “Speaking Terms” with co-writer Joybeth Taylor on country superstar Ella Langley’s number one album, Dandelion.
“I have often said that God’s fingerprints are all over this song,” Cronin said, “from the time I got the idea to the time I presented it to Joybeth. I grew up in the church with worship music and leading worship at women’s retreats, all that stuff, and that’s where the seeds were sown for ‘Speaking Terms.’”
“In February 2020 I had written ‘Speaking Terms’ on my list of titles,” Cronin said. “I was thinking that it was going to be about God, because even as a longtime Christian I went through periods where I felt like prayer just bounced off the ceiling and I couldn’t hear from God, like prayer was a one-way thing. Joybeth and I were playing some of the same shows in Nashville, and I told her I’d love to write with her sometime. So when I presented the title to her, I said it could be about how we’re on speaking terms with our own hearts, or how connected we are with another person. Or I really think it might be about God and about prayer. And she said ‘Oh, let’s write it about God.’ We started writing it on July 17th and finished it on the 20th of July 2020.”
Taylor started performing “Speaking Terms” live around town herself, sometimes with her friend Langley singing harmony. “I had no idea that was going on,” said Cronin, who is a performing artist herself at events and house concerts in Texas and other states. “And I didn’t have it as part of my own set very often because I have a whole bunch of songs like that. Joybeth kind of carried all of this.”
Langley finally picked it up for the album, with Miranda Lambert co-producing and veteran Nashville engineer Chuck Ainlay (George Strait, Jake Owen) working on the vocal track. “Other artists were interested in cutting it,” Cronin said, “and then it always fell through. But to have someone like Ella cut it…when I was told in September of 2024 that Ella wanted to put it on hold I was like, Awesome! The fact that God saved that song for this artist and this moment blows my mind every day. It’s just such a beautiful story in the song, and it’s a matter of the right song and the right time finding the right artist.”
“This is sort of almost a lesson,” Cronin said. “We write songs for 20 or 30 years, and all of a sudden somebody hears it and Bam! You’ve got a cut. I have other cuts on some independent artists, but this one is a magnitude I never have seen. And I’ve never seen an artist blow up like Ella has.”
Cronin, who also had a co-write with Cody Johnson on his 2023 album Leather, has recorded several albums of her own and is a Kerrville New Folk winner. And if anything, she’s a perfect example of how patience and persistence, along with faith and prayer, can lead to successful outcomes we can never imagine. “I feel like I know who I am and I know what I’m supposed to be doing with my life,” Cronin said. “And I’m fortunate enough that I get to do it, so you know I give it everything I have.”
You can find out more about Cronin and her music, and see where she’s performing next, at helenecronin.com.
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