NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We’re getting our first look at the song written by Sgt. Henry Particelli as honors the likes of George Floyd and others who lost their lives at the hands of police around the country.
Any writer will tell you, you write how you feel. Particelli started with one line.
“The first words were I cried. I cry for you today and I don’t know you. Because I have. I’ve shed many tears over these events and a lot of us have,“ said Particelli.
It started as no more than just a few memo notes on the way to work. Only a couple days later and Particelli had the lyrics to “Your Name” on paper.
He never intended on singing the song himself. Instead, Particelli offered it to Juanita Copeland, President of The Sound Emporium and one of the biggest names in Nashville music. She then enlisted the help of one of the biggest artists in the music industry period, Grammy award-winner Garth Brooks.
“He put his head down and said oh my gosh. He said that’s an amazing song. So you know the songwriter, I said yes I do. He’s a Metro Police officer. He stood up and said he has to release this song Juanita,“ said Copeland.
Particelli accepted the challenge to play the notes, only he knew best.
Copeland donated the studio time and helped oversee the overall production. She then secured the video production team of Tim Sutherland and Ron Peterson, of Pick 2 Productions whose credits include the ABC show “Nashville” among many other television shows and movies.
The title as Particelli explains comes from the many names he will always remember and for all the wrong reasons.
“You see the aftermath of that and you see the great injustice and nothing hurts a good police officer than seeing a bad police officer take action that we don’t feel is appropriate,” said Particelli.
It’s for that reason Particelli says he wrote what he did. Not to lay blame, but to show that with or without his badge, we can heal together.
“If you never knew that I was a police officer through the whole course of this video, hopefully, this song still does something for you,” said Particelli.
