NASHVILLE, Tennessee — One year ago, country star Brad Paisley he watched the news on television when Russian troops invaded the Ukraine and, like many people around the world, felt helpless before the images of people fleeing their homes.
“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades,” recalls the three-time Grammy winner.
This Friday, the first anniversary of the start of the war, Paisley will release a new song called “Same Here,” featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking proudly about his country and its people.
The song is Paisley’s first from her new record, “Son of the Mountains,” which is set to be released later this year on Universal Music Group Nashville.
The West Virginia native wrote the song with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer of Paisley’s hits “The World” and “Perfect Storm”) and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith. It is a three-part narrative that reflects on universal similarities, despite distance and language.
While not specifically mentioning Ukraine, the song ends with Paisley and Zelenskyy in conversation, recorded during a video call. Zelenskyy talks about the Ukrainians’ desire for freedom, adding: “There is no distance between our two countries in such values.”
“There’s just no difference,” Paisley told The Associated Press. “You can put us in different places with different flags and different languages, but we have a lot of similarities.”
Paisley is one of several celebrity ambassadors for Ukraine’s United24 crowdfunding effort and has donated his time for other fundraising efforts to help Ukrainians. But even he thought it would be a long shot to have the direct involvement of Zelenskyy, who has traveled the world championing Ukraine’s military and recovery efforts.
“I think he understands that art is the way to reach the most people, especially the heart,” Paisley said of Zelenskyy, who was an actor and comedian before becoming president.
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“He can give as many speeches as he can give, but maybe it’s a lot easier to listen to something with a tune.”
Zelenskyy not only signed the song; he also suggested some changes, Paisley said.
Paisley’s royalties from the song will be donated to United24 to help build housing for thousands of displaced Ukrainians whose homes were destroyed in the war, he said. Using his platform to advocate for causes important to him has always been a part of his career, whether it’s opening a free grocery store in Nashville with his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, or fighting hunger by donating 1 million meals during the pandemic.
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“I couldn’t sleep at night if I didn’t jump on the fence with things like this,” Paisley said. “For me, I’m happiest dealing with things as a songwriter that are very true and very, very passionate. And sometimes I don’t know if you would call it risky, but it’s more like he’s bigger than me.”
Paisley brings her passion to the stage during live shows. He has been changing the lyrics of his hit song “American Saturday Night,” for example, to replace a reference to the USSR with “There’s a Ukrainian flag hanging behind the bar.”
The new record will be his UMG debut since moving from Sony’s Arista label, and he said “Same Here” reflects the kinds of great universal tracks it contains.
“We deal with things that happen in the world,” Paisley said. “How do you sing about things that are really important, a big deal right now, that also don’t feel like they’re the kind of things you’d normally be singing about? And yeah, on this album I really went deep and tried to say something.”
Paisley, who has visited US troops in Afghanistan, said he has been invited to visit Ukraine, which he would like to do. In the meantime, he hopes the song’s message will strengthen the country now facing its second year of war.
“That’s where it gets really gratifying… to feel like maybe the heart of it helps paint the picture that they want to paint,” Paisley said.