Review by Amy Blizzard
When James Otto first revealed a sample of the music featured on his new album ‘Shake What God Gave Ya’, he treated radio listeners with the easygoing and lighthearted lead-off single ‘Groovy Little Summer Song’ which was expectedly a seasonal delight. Now, as summer fades into autumn, he is returning to radio stations across the country with the significantly more serious ballad ‘Soldiers & Jesus’.
As the title suggests, the new single written by James Otto and Chris Allen Wallin focuses on soldiers and Jesus and the profusion of similarities that exist between the men and women who serve in the military to protect their country and the man whom Christians believe to be their selfless
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savior. The lyrics touch upon mutual: bravery, sacrifice and horrific battle.
While many are already in a war of words online due to the song’s content (especially due to a reference to particular angles some people believe are being displayed in modern day broadcast journalism), James Otto does manage to use the song to narrate a personal story about his family’s history of religious and military connections instead of only making a blunt political or religious statement.
The arrangement for ‘Soldiers & Jesus’ is subdued, faintly haunting and steadily builds into a swelling crescendo that incorporates the country music hallmark of a steel guitar. James Otto delivers a rich vocal that is enhanced with a scant grit and rasp that do not manage to hinder his evident passion and tenderness but only strengthen them.
Due to the subject matter, the new single may prove to be polarizing just as some of Toby Keith’s opinionated songs have proven to be. Even though country music has a long history of accepting Christian references into mainstream radio, some listeners may be displeased by the overt acknowledgment of religion. However, other music fans might enjoy the song simply for the pleasant tune and fine vocal and many could potentially connect with the song on a personal level and feel it is authentic.
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James Otto “Soldiers And Jesus” Video Otto Singing In A Radio Studio
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More on James Otto and his new single
The 9513 gives it a thumbs up | Country Universe says ““Soldiers and Jesus” is a failure”
James Otto “Soldiers and Jesus” Lyrics
Well granddaddy came home in a B-52
In a pine box covered in red, white, and blue
He was one of the brave and the proud and the few
21 guns helped us say goodbye
I stood there in silence trying hard not to cry
As the preacher he quoted lines written in red
And he folded his bible in a broken voice he said
There’s only two people whose ever died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell bared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell
They never pick a fight but their there to pick up the pieces
God only knows where we’d be without soldiers and Jesus
It seems like the news loves to run em both down
Whenever we need em there always around
So don’t hand me a parties political views
There’s left side and right side and then there’s the truth
There’s only two people whose ever died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell bared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell
They never pick a fight but their there to pick up the pieces
God only knows where we’d be without soldiers and Jesus
To me there both heroes for the path that they chose
One fights for my life one fights for my soul
There’s only two people whose ever died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell bared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell
They never pick a fight but their there to pick up the pieces
God only knows where we’d be without soldiers and Jesus
Soldiers and Jesus
Well granddaddy came home in a B-52
In a pine box covered in red, white, and blue
