Posted on 04/24/2003 5:43:15 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Im sorry, Im a little scattered, Darryl Worley says, calling in on a cell phone. Ive got so many damn things going on, and Im sitting in the middle of an airport. Its not the greatest place to do an interview.
A slight echo distorts everything he hears on the other end of the phone, although his own words come through loud and clear. Thats appropriate, considering the fiercely patriotic message of his No. 1 hit, Have You Forgotten? A bold statement from a traditional-minded singer, Have You Forgotten? has become country musics rallying cry of 2003. The single currently enjoys its fourth consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboards country singles chart.
I think the bottom line is that the majority of people that listen to country radio see this particular circumstance that were in as a nation the same way I do, he says. Theres a few people in this country that seem to have forgotten what happened to our nation on 9/11, but theres a majority of people who havent forgotten.
With the war coverage saturating the airwaves, its practically impossible to forget about the conflict overseas. However, Have You Forgotten? was not written about the war with Iraq. Instead, Worley composed the song (with Wynn Varble) the last week in December 2002 just after visiting American troops in Afghanistan. He debuted the song at the Grand Ole Opry on Jan. 10.
I was on a mission to do something to honor those guys and gals who are over there laying their lives on the line, Worley says. I almost forgot the lyrics that night, because wed never played it as a band before. We actually stood in the dressing room and learned it.
After his Grand Ole Opry Live performance was telecast the following night on CMT, requests began pouring into country radio almost immediately. The single shot to No. 1 on the Billboard chart in five weeks, and Worley (along with labelmate Toby Keith) accepted an invitation to sing for the President on March 26.
Earlier this month, he was honored with the USO Merit Award. During an Alabama concert, he was presented with an American flag flown at the Pentagon on the first anniversary of 9/11. Just last week (April 16), his performance at the Pentagon was piped into military bases around the world.
Its an amazing trajectory for someone who was largely unknown this time last year -- three singles had cracked the Top 15 and I Miss My Friend was very slowly crawling to No. 1. (It took six months to get there.)
Now, rather than releasing a third album of all-new material, Worley collects six songs each from 2000s Hard Rain Dont Last and 2002s I Miss My Friend for the new album, Have You Forgotten? Four new songs were inspired by his Afghanistan trip, and Worley calls the first half of the project a tribute to the American soldier.
Asked if hes concerned that the new patriotic songs will overshadow his other material, Worley takes the opposite view.
If this one patriotic song is all I had, people would be going, Whats this guy about? Worley says. I think were not only going to honor these soldiers, but were gonna put a retrospective look at what weve done in my career and the music that best represents what Im about. I think people are really going to have a chance to hear that and say, Man, that guy has got some solid music.
A Tennessee native, the 38-year-old Worley says, What Im told more and more every day is that Your songs say exactly how I feel and thats a special thing. You only get a few of those in a lifetime and we didnt plan this. This is such a fluke. I mean, the song is so in-your-face, I never dreamed it would be a single. You have to be so careful nowadays what you put out there. You might offend somebody or have something radio doesnt endorse or whatever.
He continues, There are a lot of people out there who believe in our military and who believe in our president. Theyre the silent majority. You wont see them out running around in the streets preaching to people about their feelings on this. But they will stand up and say Hell yeah when somebody strikes that chord in them.
On the Country Singles chart, Darryl Worley is still number one for the fifth consecutive week with "Have You Forgotten." Something else to note, Toby Keith, who had the country hit of the summer last year with "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" holds at #2 on the country album charts with an album that has been out for nearly a year now and debuts at #5 with a Greatest Hits album. It appears that many Americans are consciously buying records from recording artists who support our troops. Meanwhile, back on the pop charts, a pop remake of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA (Proud to be an American)" debuts at #4!
So it's been a pretty good week for patriotic music.
I bought my copy of Darryl Worley's new album last week. I urge the rest of the Freepers who haven't bought it yet to go get it so that it stays on top for many weeks to come.
Am I the only one who thinks he sounds like Elmer Fudd ?
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