Exclusive Interview: Nashville Hitmaker Wallin Teams with 18-Year-Old Singer for Pro-Life Anthem ‘I Was Gonna Be,’ Written from POV of Aborted Baby

Baste Records
Baste Records
David Ng and Jerome Hudson

“I just wanted people to hear the voice of the voiceless,” Nashville songwriter Chris Wallin said of the new country single “I Was Gonna Be,” a powerful pro-life anthem written from the point of view of a baby that never had a chance to be born. “I truly believe this is a God thing that happened.”

Wallin, who has penned hits for some of country music’s biggest stars, including Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Garth Brooks, Montgomery Gentry, and Kenny Chesney, said the writing process for “I Was Gonna Be” was deeply personal. In an interview with Breitbart News Daily’s Mike Slater on Sirius XM Patriot 125, Wallin said, “I started writing this song for myself. I didn’t think anyone would have the courage to sing this.” But Wallin found his muse. Halfway through the writing of the song, he met an 18-year-old newcomer from Indiana named Rachel Holt. He knew right away that he had found the right singer.

“I played her the song and her first words, she goes, ‘I’m singing that song.” She told Wallin, “I think a lot of the songs that girls my age listen to never talk about real life. And that’s what I want to do.”

But Wallin explained to the young artist that recording a song like this doesn’t come without significant risk. He wanted Rachel to understand that “I Was Gonna Be” isn’t just any song and that “there are people who are going to be visceral about this song — on both sides. Good and bad.” But the teenage singer had a very simple response that confirmed for Wallin that he had found the right artist for the song. She said “I don’t care.”

She went on to say that she fully understood the politically charged conversation abortion brings and how the debate about life is a flashpoint culture war topic, particularly among people her age.

“She’s 18 years old and she’s 100 percent traditional values and she isn’t scared to talk and sing about it,” Wallin told Breitbart. “And that’s so important these days. Everything that’s going on, to have a young woman perform this song is all the more important.”

Country music singer Rachel Holt. (Baste Records)

The release of “I Was Gonna Be” truly exhibits the courage of a young artist who’s not afraid to use her voice and talent to combat the high-profile and powerful messaging of the left that is designed to normalize abortion for young people.

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, megastars like Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Brandi Carlisle, Lizzo, Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen, Phoebe Bridgers, and Pink all used their massive social platforms to push pro-choice messages.

“I Was Gonna Be” Lyrics:

Some don’t believe I’m a living soul

Just a bad mistake that needs to go

If my mama coulda just seen my face

Maybe she woulda had me anyway

There are those who speak for me

Who fight for lives that they can’t see

But there are some who only mourn?

This life of mine if I were born?

All I wanted was a chance

To learn to love and laugh and dance

But I was gone before I arrived

Sent back to heaven on a starlight flight

Yeah I was gonna change the world

I was gonna be a girl

The first thing I was gonna do

Was breathe and fall in love with you

But a couple weeks before I saw the light

Mine flickered out when you changed your mind

All I wanted was a chance

To learn to love and laugh and dance

But I was gone before I arrived

Sent back to heaven on a starlight flight

I was gonna have some pretty curls

Yeah I was gonna be a girl

I’m more than just some one night stand

Or some burden that you think I am

And there ain’t no man ever gonna be

What I was gonna be

Some don’t believe I’m a living soul

Just a bad mistake that needs to go

Wallin, who serves as head of A&R for Baste Records (a Nashville based label whose slogan is the Counter-Culture Music Company) knows releasing a single about abortion from a pro-life perspective was never going to be easy. He had no commercial expectations for “I Was Gonna Be” when he started out but he forged ahead anyway.

The label knew they wanted to release the single on the first day of National Celebrate Life Weekend which is just days ahead of the anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But Wallin said he faced many obstacles, including finding promotional sponsors. “We did not leave one stone unturned when it came to calling up and talking to pro-life groups. None of them would get on board with us with this at the end,” Wallin said. Eventually, he found a partner in Patriot Mobile.

LISTEN TO CHRIS WALLIN’S FULL INTERVIEW

“It took a mobile company that is pro-life over pro-life companies to actually get involved.”

Wallin said the difficulties made it clear to him that conservatives need to do a better job fighting the culture wars.

“We need to stick together because that’s what the left is doing,” he said. The left’s omnipresence in the entertainment world “is huge in a young person’s mind — that’s a huge influence, and we need to combat that.”

He said one way the right can win is to prioritize artistic excellence — “make great music first that just happens to say what we believe.”

“I Was Gonna Be” is available for streaming and purchase today.

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