On what would have been the ninth birthday of Harrison Neville-Lake, a folk song has been released to honour the memory of the young boy who, along with his siblings Daniel and Milly, and grandfather Gary Neville, was killed by a drunk driver nearly four years ago.

“It hit me hard, as it did everyone else,” songwriter Abe Drennan said. “As a songwriter, when I feel something strongly I have to write about it.”

Based in the Northwest Territories, Drennan says he was inspired to write a song back in the fall of 2015, shortly after hearing about the crash that killed his friend Jennifer Neville-Lake’s father and three children.

Shortly after the crash, Neville-Lake posted a video on Facebook showing her kids dancing to “Just Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Vassar. In the video, the eldest child Daniel can be seen directing his siblings, showing them moves, and twirling his diaper-clad sister Milly in his arms.

The kids are carefree, and giggling – a version of paradise, according to Drennan.

“That video was hopeful,” he said. “If I could somehow capture that joy that the kids were expressing in that moment through the word paradise and write it down, that’s kind of where things started. That gave me the inspiration to write the song.”

The song begins with the lyrics “the day their spirits soared was the day that driver poured too many drinks,” a reference to Marco Muzzo, the driver who pleaded guilty in 2016 to four counts of impaired driving causing death, and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Muzzo was behind the wheel of his Jeep when he ran through a stop sign, killing four members of the Neville-Lake family and injuring two others. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was denied parole last November.

The song is called “Spirits Soared” and is a collaboration between Drennan and L.A.-based producer Jason Manns. Drennan first recorded the song in his kitchen and has worked with Manns for the past three years putting the finishing touches on the single.

All proceeds from the song will be donated to Many Hands, Doing Good, the not-for-profit set up by the Neville-Lake family. The charity uses the arts to help children affected by trauma.

“When we experience trauma like that we can either go two ways,” he said about the charity work Jennifer Neville-Lake and her husband Ed Lake are doing. “We can go down a path of destruction or we can go down a path of hope, and change the world…that’s what the Neville-Lake family is doing.”

On Monday, Jennifer Neville-Lake said she is thankful to Drennan for writing the song.

“Both Ed and I were moved by the intensely beautiful imagery of our children and my dad’s story in his lyrics,” she said in a statement to CTV News Toronto. “The haunting melody has helped provide a beacon of light in the darkness that surrounds us. An audible reminder that our loves lived and touched lives everywhere.”

The song can be downloaded for $1.99 through the independent music store CD Baby.