Two years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, country singer Darryl Worley knew people had forgotten.
His neighbors remembered two airliners were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, triggering their collapse. They knew a plane crashed into the Pentagon and another, likely destined for a different Washington D.C. landmark, went down in a Pennsylvania field. They knew thousands of people died — but they didn’t know how many. And they didn’t remember how the assault angered them and robbed them of their security.
For Worley, who had just returned from playing for U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East, the emotions were as fresh as the faces of the American soldiers who sang along with his songs.
Darryl Worley.Kimberly Worley
The men penned “Have You Forgotten?” in about 90 minutes. The song went on to be a seven-week No. 1 hit for Worley that not only reshaped his career but commands attention 18 years later.
“I knew immediately that this was no accident,” Worley said of their conversation that day. “This song was ordained.”
Two days after the men wrote “Have You Forgotten?”, Worley was invited to play the Friday night portion of the Grand Ole Opry’s salute to veterans. He recognized the tribute provided the ideal audience for the song. Worley got permission to play “Have You Forgotten?” on stage during the show and then quickly taught it to his band members. One of his managers passionately objected to his plan, and Worley told him that if he didn’t like it, he “should probably go home.”
“It’s three chords and the truth,” Worley reasoned. “It ain’t going to be rocket science. Even if we make a mistake, nobody will know because it’s never been played in public before.”
“You would’ve had to have been there,” Worley said wistfully, remembering the extended standing ovation the song received.
The reception was so strong the GM invited Worley to playthe song on the televised portion of the Grand Ole Opry the following night.
By Monday, bootleg live versions of “Have You Forgotten?” were played on country radio.
“The rest is history,” Worley said. “We weren’t scared to say whatever we wanted to say. I look back on it, and I think that’s probably what wound up making it such a huge hit. We didn’t try to follow anybody’s formula. We said what we wanted to say and spoke our hearts.”
Darryl Worley.Courtesy DreamWorks Records
Worley rushed back into the studio to record a proper version of the song. “Have You Forgotten?” stomped all over his current radio single, but five weeks later, it was the No. 1 country song in America.
“It’s funny how it has changed the course of my life,” Worley said.
He didn’t make it home.
“She just walked up right in front of me, looked me right in the eyes, stretched her arms out, and gave me a big hug,” Worley said, his voice thick with tears. “She was a Gold Star mother. She thanked me and said he found his calling, and it gave him purpose.”
“I have these big ideas all the time, and they don’t all pan out,” Worley said. “But if we do it with the right heart, somebody will get something very special out of it. I think God puts us in a position to do good things for people. And if we try enough things, he’ll look at the ones that matter and make it happen. Then we changed lives, and we accomplished what we were put here to do.”
source: people.com
