In 2003, two years after the tragic events of 9/11, Darryl Worley released “Have You Forgotten?,” a song that serves as a reminder of one of the worst days in America’s history. To mark the 20th anniversary of the song’s release, Worley reimagined the lyrics and updated the title to be “Have We Forgotten?”
The updated version of Darryl Worley’s biggest hit fits modern day events and is a call for unity and peace among Americans.
Worley debuted “Have You Forgotten?” at the Grand Ole Opry in 2003 and the song was an immediate success. The poignant lyrics perfectly captured how American’s felt in the aftermath of 9/11, making it an anthem of sorts, urging people to never forget the tragedy.
Daryll said that due to the success of the song, he decided to team up with his original co-writers to rewrite the lyrics to fit the modern day narrative.
“We recently decided to sit down and write a new lyric for the song that’s appropriate for this day and time with what’s happening in our country today. For the new version, ‘Have We Forgotten,’ we wanted to be certain we said what we were truly feeling in our hearts and didn’t compromise what we believe in, which is exactly how it went down with the original. I’m very proud of the message of the song,” Worley said.
In a recent post made to Instagram, Worley shared a clip of the Grand Ole Opry debut of “Have You Forgotten” followed by a new clip of the debut of “Have We Forgotten?” performed on the same stage.
View this post on Instagram
“Have You Forgotten?” is considered one of the best patriotic country songs ever released. The song was initially considered controversial and some radio stations were hesitant to play it. But, it didn’t take long for it to grow in popularity and climb to the top of the country charts. While some tried to politicize the tune, Worley insisted that the song was meant to be nothing more than a reminder of the events of September 11, and stated that there was no underlying political agenda.
Worley denied that the song endorsed the war in Iraq and suggested that the lyrics be taken at face value. “‘The song is posing a question: Have you forgotten what happened to our country on 9/11? That’s pretty much the size of it.”