Nashville Songwriters Pen Moving Tribute Song for Florida Mass Shooting Victims
Two of Nashville's biggest songwriters have teamed up for an emotional song titled “Goodbye My Friend,” which was inspired by the mass shooting that took place at a high school in Florida on Feb. 14.
17 people died when a 19-year-old former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Famed Nashville songwriters Tim Nichols and Jim Beavers have both penned their share of hit tunes over the years for stars including Tim McGraw to Chris Stapleton. Nichols shared their new song online, accompanied by a touching collage of victims of the latest shooting.
"So many people have experienced senseless loss over the past several years. From the loyal country music fans watching Jason Aldean on the streets of Las Vegas to numerous schools hit by unexplainable violence, the tragedy seems never ending. This song I wrote with Jim Beavers is in tribute to so many lives lost and is dedicated to the survivors. Families, friends and entire communities are mourning special individuals that were taken too soon," he writes.
"I’ve put together some images of the recent victims and students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to our song," he continues. "May it honor their spirits and lift up those left behind."
CNN reports that three of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history have taken place in the last five months, including the mass shooting that killed 58 and wounded more than 700 more at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. Just a month later, a gunman killed at least 26 people in a church in the small town of Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Everytown for Gun Safety reports that there have been 18 instances in which guns have been discharged in schools in the United States in the first two months of 2018 alone. In the wake of the Parkland shooting, a student-led series of protests have swept the country, and country music artists including Cam, Margo Price, Jennifer Nettles, Brothers Osborne and more are among those who expressed outrage over legislative inaction on gun control after the latest tragedy.