Multi-platinum country singer-songwriter Ira Dean, who has recorded with greats like Hank Williams Jr. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Darius Rucker, Emmy Lou Harris, Montgomery Gentry, and Blake Shelton, and has had songs recorded by Ronnie Dunn, Rascal Flatts, and, Trace Adkins, is honoring the 5th anniversary of country music legend Charlie Daniels’ passing with a patriotic new song aptly titled “What Would Charlie Daniels Do?“
“Charlie was a patriot. American poet. He loved God, family, country, the flag. He was a great friend of mine. And, the man I miss,” Dean told Breitbart News Daily host Mike Slater on Friday. “And he was like Jesus and John Wayne all wrapped into one.”
Inspired by Daniels’ generation-defining musical legacy and a need to respond to what Dean says feels like a rise of division across the country and a lack of pride in America, he linked up with Nashville Hall of Fame songwriter Jeffrey Steele and began writing “What Would Charlie Daniels Do?” which appears on Dean’s new album “I Got Roads.”
“It’s gotten, like, taboo to be proud of America. I can wear an American shirt with a flag on it now and I’m called a racist,” Dean said. “Last time I checked, America doesn’t have a color. We’re all we’re mutts here. We’re black, white, yellow, green, you know, and I’m proud of this country.”
“So I’m hoping that people get patriotic and start loving their country more and get rid of the hate,” Dean continued. “I mean, it’s so divided right now. It’s like we’re all Americans, man. Let’s do the right things, come together, and let’s get this country rocking.”
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Dean doesn’t pull punches on “What Would Charlie Daniel’s Do?” calling out left-wing rocker Neil Young; he shouts out American war fighters sacrificing for our freedom, and quotes fellow country crooner Ted Nugent, whom Dean was hoping to collaborate with.
“We were writing and that second verse came up and I spilled out the whole ‘and I’m one of them don’t give a damn, live off the land Ted Nugent fans,” Dean says quoting the song’s lyrics about Nugent. “I called Ted as soon as we finished it and I said, ‘ Ted, I hope you don’t mind. I put your name in the song.’”
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“He called me back and goes, ‘you’ve got to cut that. I’m playing a guitar solo on it.’ And I was like, ‘I was hoping you’d say that,’” Dean says.
“I went down to Waco, Taxes, and and hung out with Ted and cut the song and now it’s the number one video right now across all genres on iTunes.”
“What Would Charlie Daniels Do?”
THIS ONE’S FOR CHARLIE DANIELS
I WAS TRUCKIN UP THE HIGHWAY
MINDING MY OWN LANE
WHEN A DUDE IN A PRIUS WENT AND FLIPPED ME OFF
GUESS MY REDNECK HIT HIM WRONG
SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE THESE DAYS
IS A TICKING TIME BOMB FULL OF HATE
FOR FOLKS LIKE ME WHO DON’T AGREE
AND AINT NEVER GONNA CHANGE
AND IT GETS ME THINKIN
LEAVE THIS, LONG HAIRED COUNTRY BOY ALONE
THEN I START SINGIN ALONG
TO THAT LINE IN THAT SONG SWEET HOME ALABAMA
I HOPE NEIL YOUNG WILL REMEMBER
A SOUTHERN MAN DON’T NEED HIM AROUND ANYHOW
YEAH IM ONE OF THEM DON’T GIVE A DAMN
LIVE OFF THE LAND
TED NUGENT FAN
HAIR TO MY SHOULDERS, COUNTRY ALL OVER
DADDY WAS A SOLDIER
SO IF YA FIND YOURSELF WAY OUT HERE
WHERE THE BACK ROADS WIND
TO ME AND MINE
WHY DON’T YOU STOP BY
MEET THE WIFE
GRAB A BEER
LORD KNOWS YOU’RE GONNA HEAR
LEAVE THIS, LONG HAIRED COUNTRY BOY ALONE
THEN I START SINGIN ALONG
TO THAT LINE IN THAT SONG SWEET HOME ALABAMA
I HOPE NEIL YOUNG WILL REMEMBER
A SOUTHERN MAN DON’T NEED HIM AROUND ANYHOW
“What Would Charlie Daniels Do” Artwork courtesy of ira Dean
For Dean, his Charlie Daniels tribute is deeply personal. He met the “Devil Want Down to Georgia” singer after opening for him in 2002 and said Daniels knew he was hurting and confronted him about his drinking and drug use.
“Back in the day, I had a passion for self-destruction. I’m a recovering alcoholic,” Dean told Breitbart News Daily. “But there’s people in your life that say they’ll pray for you. And then there’s people in your life that will go on and pray for you and take a knee right then and there and pray for you. And Charlie was one of those guys.”
“He’s like, ‘there’s a better way. I know that look. I could see your hands are shaking. I want to pray for you,’” Dean said Daniels told him. “He took his hat off and took a knee and put his hands on me, and he prayed for my strength,” Dean said.
“Later on, I got to see him. I opened up a show for him in 2020 and I was sober, and he came up to me and put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye and said, ‘I can see you now.’” Dean said, calling it a moment he will never forget. Daniels passed shortly after.
A portion of the proceeds from “What Would Charlie Daniels Do?” will benefit The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project, which, since Daniels co-founded it in 2014, has supported veterans and their transition from military to civilian life.
American country music singer, songwriter, and bandleader Charlie Daniels (1936-2020) performs on an American flag guitar inscribed ‘Never Forget, 9-11-01’ on its head at Central Park SummerStage, New York, New York, August 3, 2002. (Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
Ira Dean co-wrote, along with Jeffrey Steele, the #1 smash “Am I the Only One” for Aaron Lewis in 2021.
“It was Aaron’s first number 1 song in 22 years. It outsold everybody that year, beating Taylor Swift on the charts,” Dean said of “Am I the Only One,” the patriotic anthem that skewers everyone from Bruce Springsteen to the left-wing activists who tore statutes down during the Black Lives Matter riots.
Jeffrey Steele (R) and Ira Dean (L) celebrate their #1 smash hit “Am I the Only One?” (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Parisi)
“Only nine songs have ever debuted at number one on Billboard since 1958, since the chart started. And this was the ninth song to ever debut at number one,” Dean said.
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Jerome Hudson is Breitbart News Entertainment Editor and author of the book 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know About Trump. Order your copy today. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter and instagram@jeromeehudson
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