Acclaimed country songwriter and Nashville Songwriting Hall of Famer Jeffrey Steele has released a new single “Walk Toward the Fire,” a tribute to the late Andrew Breitbart, a song he penned with Breitbart’s own Jon Kahn. Steele characterized the song as honoring “any hero who steps up to the plate and tries to do what needs to be done at a time when things are just out of control. And he [Andrew] was that guy.”
Steele, whose career spans more than three decades, is one of the most celebrated songwriters in the country music industry. He’s written hits like “What Hurts the Most,” “My Wish,” and “These Days” for Rascal Flatts, as well as singles for Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Keith Urban, and Miley Cyrus. Most recently he co-wrote “Am I the Only One?” with Aarron Lewis and Ira Dean. The hard hitting, Democrat slamming anthem debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Charts. He’s won Songwriter of the Year repeatedly and has been nominated for Grammys as well as a Golden Globe.
In an interview with Breitbart News’ editor-in-chief Alex Marlow on Breitbart News Daily on Sirius XM Patriot 125, Steele spoke about how the song came about and the legacy of Andrew Breitbart on the tenth anniversary of his untimely death.
Steele explained how Kahn originally approached him with the idea of collaborating on a song to commemorate Andrew Breitbart. After Steele did his own reading and research, he and Kahn sat down over the course of a couple days at Steele’s studio in Nashville to craft a song that reflected Breitbart’s spirit and personality.
Listen below:
GET “Walk Toward the Fire” HERE.
“He was so bigger than life and I wanted to capture that,” Steele said of Breitbart. “I wanted the song to be an inspiration to anybody who didn’t know him or who did — to just get that feeing from the lyric of ‘Who is this guy? What is this about?’”
The song deliberately never mentions Breitbart by name, instead using the refrain “Who is this guy?” Steele said “When we were writing the song, I kept asking [Kahn] to show me video of people [paying tribute to Breitbart] and then I saw Peter Schweizer say ‘who is this guy?’ And I said that’s what we need to say in the song. It was so much fun, we had so much fun writing it.”
WALK TOWARD THE FIRE – Steele, Kahn
Who is this guy?
Jumps in the ring
Puts on the gloves
Takes on the world
Loves to make you mad
While he’s making you laugh
Who is this guy?
The voice in the riot
Speaks for the quiet
Always defiant
Stands for the small
Like some kind of giant
Whoever he is
We could use a few more like him
Someone who ain’t afraid to fight fighters
Throw the truth at all the liars.
Sees the smoke and flames get higher
And screams
Walk toward the fire.
Like there’s nothing left to lose
Walk toward the fire
So who is the guy?
I hope to God
If they write the story of my life
It means half as much
as his did to us
He came and he changed
Everything he touched
Someone who ain’t afraid to fight the fighters
Throw the truth at all the liars.
Sees the smoke and the flames get higher
And he screams
Walk toward the fire
Like there’s nothing left to lose
Walk toward the fire.
Walk toward the fire.
In a world that’s gone out of its mind
Was he the last one of his kind?
Someone who ain’t afraid to fight the fighters
Throw the truth at all the liars.
Sees the smoke and the flames get higher
Someone who ain’t afraid to fight the fighters
Throw the truth at all the liars.
Sees the smoke and flames get higher
And he screams
Walk toward the fire.
Like there’s everything to lose
Walk toward the fire.
Listen to the full Jeffrey Steele interview HERE.
Steele also spoke to Marlow about the aforementioned Aaron Lewis single “Am I the Only One,” that rocked the country music industry by soaring to the top of the charts without radio support.
“That was the first song in my career that made it to No. 1, probably one of the biggest songs of my career, that had no air play on radio” he said. And then added that being banned on radio “really lit my fire.”
Jeffrey Steele (R) and Ira Dean (L) celebrate their #1 smash hit “Am I the Only One?” (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Parisi)
He said the music industry is now completely politicized. “If you’re not on the left, you’re out,” he said. But he is seeing signs of pushback from within the business.
“Everybody’s been keeping their mouth shut and everybody’s had it. In the music business, that’s a great thing because we’re supposed to be in this business to speak out against government.”
GET “Walk Toward the Fire” HERE.
Follow @jsteelemusic and @jonkahnmusic on Instagram
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.