Wayne Anderson: Hey, thank you, Michael for checking out my song & for the kind words! Yes, this was something I really wanted to make special & I wanted to come from the aspect of a person in awe of the sacrifice of a fallen service member (specifically Marine focused because of my dad). It was not directly written for my dad's service (he served in the early years of the Vietnam War & volunteered as a 17-yr-old initially & served about 3 years total, from what I recall). My dad came home from war & met my mom, but he had always told me the difference between what Memorial Day is & how it differs from Veterans Day each year. As far as writing the song - I guess probably a couple of years ago, I started writing down ideas & documenting how I wanted it to sound & what I wanted the listener to experience while listening. When I have been with my dad in public settings & he often wears a USMC/Marine ball cap or jacket & when he meets another Marine I always hear them saying the 'SEMPER FI' term (SEMPER Fidelis) which is Latin for 'always faithful'. I can't think of anything more faithful than being committed until death in serving another person. That is the ultimate SEMPER Fi.

Wayne: With me being a solo guy, I've had different people involved in the few songs I've done the last few years & sometimes schedules don't always line up for getting music recorded with various musicians. I think I originally started seeing Lori's Instagram posts show up on my feed & she was using a music platform to record drums from her & her husband's studio in Wisconsin (I live in Georgia). I was very intimidated about asking a former drummer from a multi-Platinum selling band about recording on my song, but I decided to reach out anyway (thru the platform Soundbetter.com, if you want that detail or not), and she was great to work with! I plan on doing more with her.

Sonny Lallerstedt is a guitar legend in the Atlanta area & he was actually my youth worship leader many years ago at a church we both attended. One day last year, I just decided to ask him about playing on my song & gave him a few details & he took it from there! Yes, both Sonny & Lori did so much for the song & I love how it turned out!

Wayne: Thank you - Yeah, I really wanted to try & use a visual of people that are affected by a service member's (Marines) sacrifice when going to war. I think personalizing it makes it that much more real. We all have seen powerful war related movies over the years that show husbands/wives/sisters/brothers, etc affected by military service. These families are often turned upsidedown at a moment's notice.

Wayne: Thanks, I'm glad you noticed that part. I had different ideas about where to put those soundbytes because I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the song with random yelling & making the listener lose focus of what was going on lyrically. Those are my voices doubled & tripled up to try to sound as legit as possible. I think I even texted a Marine friend about it just in case it might be seen as disrespectful. He assured me it was not.

Wayne: As far as the musical focus goes, we are all familiar with the Foo Fighter's song "My Hero" & it always gets everyone I know worked up emotionally when it plays (for various reasons). I wanted to TRY to do a song that was specific to WHO the hero really is. I can't think of anything more heroic than someone giving their life for someone else. In God's kingdom, Christ is the ULTIMATE Semper Fi for our benefit. Ultimately, I think our society has lost much of our appreciation for what sacrifice is. Doing something for the benefit of others seems foreign to who we are now. Thankfully, many of us still value that.

Also, I wanted to mention that after that bridge part you referenced, there is a brief moment where you hear a voice saying 'SEMPER Fi' twice (just after the 3:05 mark). That is the voice of a man who was in Vietnam with my dad. He's about to turn 80 yrs old. He & my dad & another Marine have reconnected in the last decade or so & have been able to enjoy some time together.

As far as my dad's service in the Marines, there is honestly a lot I probably don't know about the few years he was a Marine. I need to do some documentation on that, now that you've mentioned it!

Wayne: Yes. Around 2020, I started releasing some songs as I was learning how to record on my own (with a lot of help). I'm just a regular working guy trying to get stuff done when I can. I think, as believers, many of us have forgotten that we can make music that honors God & doesn't have to be Sunday morning worship material. I have more music to record... I would love to work towards doing a full album, but that often takes a lot of time. Doing singles seems to be the way you maintain an audience's attention nowadays. I will say, if you remember any music from an early 90's electronic band named MORTAL, a cover song is on the way. They blew my mind when industrial music was making waves back then.

Thank you so much Michael for taking the time to let me share some thoughts & thank you for what you guys do at JFH!