A couple of Nashville singers have written a song to bring attention to a national tragedy, suicides by military veterans.
Russ and Linda Murphy, graduates of Texas Tech University and now Nashville singers and songwriters, are hoping a new song will touch and save the lives of our nation’s heroes.
The duo teamed up with writers David Spears and Robert Jason to come up with a song to raise awareness of veteran suicide for the Night of Courage event, hosted by the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Lubbock VFW Post 2466 late last month.
Linda said, “We wrote several versions of it and thought we just had the best song, that it’s going to be great. Then we got an opportunity to meet with some families who had lost soldiers to suicide and some soldiers who had attempted it but didn’t go through with it.”
She said they tore up lyrics each time to make sure the song, “The Battle Rages On,” would make an impact on veterans and citizens alike, as 20 veterans a day take their life.
Russ called it the song “the most deeply scrutinized song I’ve ever written.”
Those lyrics help listeners understand what returning heroes are going through.
One of the lyrics reads, “church bells are ringing and choirs are singing but they hear bombs blasting and the metal crashing and it continues to ring in their ears. “As the battle rages on, God will see you through. You’re here for a reason. He’s got plans for you. We are standing by your side. You’re not fighting on your own as the battle rages on.”
The songwriters say the stories they heard prove that a veteran never truly gets away from the battle.