Brad Paisley features Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in new song. Check it out
Country music icon Brad Paisley wants you to know how similar the United States and Ukraine are, so he enlisted the help of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to lend his voice in the musician’s new song.
The song, titled “Same Here,” was released on Friday, Feb. 24, the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It features a conversation with Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president.
Paisley told The Associated Press the song was written to display the similarities between the United States and Ukraine.
“There’s just no differences,” Paisley told the AP. “You can put us in different places with different flags and different languages, but we have so many similarities.”
The song does not mention Ukraine or Zelenskyy by name, but Paisley references a “friend across the ocean” who goes through many of the same tribulations as him.
“He’s got his own kind of football team that / Lets him down every year,” Paisley sings. “A wife he loves and a bunch of dreams / For his country he holds so dear / He prays for peace and freedom / Same here.”
It ends with a recorded conversation between Paisley and Zelenskyy.
Paisley asks the president how to say “Same here” in Ukrainian, and Zelenskyy goes on to tell the singer how their countries share many of the same values.
“We speak different languages in our life. Yes, but I think we appreciate the same things,” Zelenskyy tells Paisley. “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.”
More than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, which began Feb. 24, 2022, according to the United Nations. But Yuriy Belousov, Ukraine’s prosecutor for human rights violations, told The Independent there could be as many as 100,000 victims.
Paisley recently became an ambassador for the United24 platform, which Zelenskyy launched as a venue for charitable donations for Ukraine. The campaign has also been promoted by actor Mark Hamill and singer Elton John, among others.
“Same Here” is the debut single off Paisley’s upcoming album, which is expected to be released later this year. Royalties from “Same Here” will be donated to United24, he told the AP.
“As an American, I see how very similar we are, how we share so many common values with these brave people in Ukraine, and I’m focusing my efforts on helping Ukrainian families rebuild and return to their homes,” Paisley said in January.