Country music icon Brad Paisley released a new song Friday morning that compares the humanity of those in America with those fighting for their lives in Ukraine. It also features Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In the song, titled “Same Here,” Paisley compares the hopes, dreams, and fears of people living in both countries, because to him “there’s just no differences.”
He also highlights that people in the U.S. and Ukraine alike watch the sunset, attend weddings, and worry about their families.
“However you talk, whatever you think, from the songs that you sing to the drink that you drink, if you miss your mama and worry ’bout your babies, and love each other like crazy, and want someone to share your hopes and fears, same here,” the lyrics read.
UN AMBASSADOR SAYS VOTE ON 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RUSSIA’S INVASION ‘WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY’
Brad Paisley performs at Ironstone Amphitheatre on August 18, 2022 in Murphys, California. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Paisley also said in the song that both countries have their “left coast clichés” and they have residents that go to bars to “buy each other beers and solve all the world’s problems.” The lyrics continue, “People cry when they’re happy, same here.”
The three-time Grammy-winning country star told The Associated Press that he wrote the song after watching news broadcasts showing Russian troops invading Ukraine, saying he did not know the Ukrainian language but he could “recognize the tears.”
He said he felt helpless at the images of people losing their homes and being forced to flee their comfort.
“You can put us in different places with different flags and different languages, but we have so many similarities,” he continued. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t sort of swing for the fence with things like this. For me, I’m happiest dealing with stuff as a songwriter that’s very true and very, very passionate. And sometimes I don’t know if you’d call it risky, but it’s more like it’s bigger than me.”
A family arrive at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland from Ukraine on December 20, 2022. (Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A family arrive at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland from Ukraine on December 20, 2022. (Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades,” Paisley said.
FOX NEWS POLL: HALF SAY US SHOULD SUPPORT UKRAINE AS LONG AS IT TAKES
The song does not explicitly mention Ukraine but includes a brief conversation with Zelenskyy, who Paisley introduces as “a friend across the ocean.”
“He says our worlds are very different. Yeah, that’s true, but I gotta say,” Paisley adds. “He’s got his own kind of football team that lets him down every year, a wife he loves and a bunch of dreams for his country he holds so dear.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and his wife Olena Zelenska address Ukrainian people on New Year in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 1, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Brad Paisley attend “Jesus Revolution” Los Angeles Premiere at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on February 15, 2023, in Hollywood, California. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Lionsgate)
He adds: “He prays for peace and freedom. Same here.”
“Hi, Brad,” Zelenskyy says in the song.
“Hello, Mr. President,” Paisley responds.
In the song, Zelenskyy agrees their countries are similar in many ways: “We speak different languages in our life. Yes, but I think we appreciate the same things – children, freedom, our flag, our soldiers, our people. The biggest treasure we have. And friends. And we’re proud of our army who defends our freedom and will defend our lives.”
“There’s no distance between our countries in such values. That is very important to see that they are really in many, in many things really the same,” the Ukrainian president says in the song.
“Same Here” is Paisley’s first from his new record, “Son of the Mountains,” which will be released later this year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands while listening to the Ukrainian national anthem on his arrival at the European Parliament on February 09, 2023, in Brussels, Belgium. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)
Paisley co-wrote the song with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer on Paisley hits “The World” and “Perfect Storm”) and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith.
Zelenskyy signed off on the song and suggested some changes to it, the country star said.
It was released on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO KYIV, UKRAINE, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY
“We do deal with stuff going on in the world,” Paisley added. “How do you sing about things that are truly big — a big deal right now — that also don’t feel like maybe they’re the type of thing that you would be singing about typically? And yeah, on this album I have kind of really dug deep and tried to say something.”
He added: “That’s where it gets really rewarding… feeling like maybe the heart of this helps paint the picture they want to paint.”
Country music singer Brad Paisley performs in the East Room of the White House on February 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Paisley is a celebrity ambassador for Ukraine’s United24 crowdfunding effort and has donated personal time to assisting Ukrainians.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Royalties for the song will be donated to United24 to help build housing facilities for thousands of Ukrainians displaced by the war, he said.
Paisley, who visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said he’s been invited to visit Ukraine. He said he would like to visit but has not yet made such an arrangement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
