Country Music Star Reflects On What His 9/11 Song Means And Why We Must Never Forget

Saturday marked the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. To mark the somber occasion, country music star Darryl Worley reflected on his song “Have You Forgotten?,” which he wrote about the events of 9/11 nearly two decades ago.

The original music video for Darryl Worley’s goose bump inducing song in remembrance of 9/11 is below.

Country Music’s Darryl Worley Reflects On Writing 9/11 Song

Worley began by talking about what his mindset was when he wrote the song, which was released back in 2003.

“I had just come from the war zone in Afghanistan and I got together with Wynn, my co-writer, and I kind of told him I wanted to do something as a tribute to honor our first responders and honor our military and honor the families who had lost loved ones,” he recalled to Fox News. 

“The song title comes from sometimes, it seems to cope, people want to move on as quickly as they can,” he added. “The mindset of ‘Let’s just put this behind us. Let’s forget about this.’ I think people struggle with that so that’s a lot of the emotion and the discussion that was going on while we were writing that song.”

Related: On 9/11, This Small Town Suddenly Welcomed 7500 Stranded Visitors

Country Music Star’s Reason For Writing 9/11 Song

Worley explained that his reasoning of writing the song was to make sure that this country never forget 9/11.

As the years started to go by following the attacks, the country music star was disturbed to see that some people really were seemingly leaving those heinous attacks in their rearview.

“We just wanted to remind people what had happened in such a short period of time,” he said.

Worley added, “We wanted to have a song that would honor the people that died on that day and honor their families. We wanted to have a song that would make people aware of all the first responders, police officers, and firefighters who gave their lives trying to save other people.”

His Thoughts On 20th Anniversary Of 9/11

As for how he feels about it being twenty years since the attacks, Worley said the anniversary is a difficult one for him. 

“All the feelings that I felt at the time when all that was happening, they all come back,” he said. “When I sing the song for the troops when I go back to entertain them in the war zone it evokes a lot of emotions. That is a very high-energy crowd. It’s very moving to see all those young men and women out there in their battle gear with their guns slung over their shoulders. It’s a very surreal thing to do.”

Related: Steve Buscemi Opens Up About His 9/11 PTSD After Volunteering As Firefighter In Aftermath Of Attacks

You can watch country music star Darryl Worley perform “Have You Forgotten?” on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in the video below.

Darryl Worley’s Message Of Hope – Never Forget 9/11

Worley ended his interview with a message of hope at a time when our country seems more divided than ever. 

“Things are pretty difficult in our nation right now and people seem to be very distraught,” Worley concluded. “But I’ve seen this country go through very, very difficult times and we always rise to the occasion and we’ll get through these times as well, and we’ll continue to march forward as the greatest country on Earth.”

It’s hard to believe that it’s been twenty years since the September 11 attacks.

As a generation who weren’t yet born to witness the attacks become adults, it’s more important than ever that we ensure that all Americans never forget 9/11.