Lee Greenwood to release new song written by Ronald Reagan

special – Lee Greenwood and Sara Evans are releasing new music with a surprise songwriter in the credits. That was the late President Ronald Reagan.

Reagan may have been busy running for President of the United States in the 1970s and finishing his term as Governor of California. But he still found time to co-write patriotic songs with music producer Mike Curb, founder and president of Curb Records.

Curb said he met Reagan in 1974, his final year as governor, at Junior Achievement, a charity that teaches students about the concept of free enterprise. The two hit it off and Reagan asked the songwriter if he wanted to help him with his presidential campaign.

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Curb credits California traffic jams for giving him and Reagan so much time to write songs together in the ’70s, starting with “Together, a New Beginning.”

“Back in the 70s, there was so much traffic in California that I used to travel,” Curb told Fox News Digital, “and a lot of times we wrote songs together. One of them was the 1980 convention theme song that was played, called ‘Together, a New Beginning’… Many of our music artists came to the event. It was in Detroit that year… And then that song was sung in the assembly.”

Ronald Reagan during his run for president (Getty Images)

Reagan lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford in 1976, but Curb said he brought his frustrations into writing more songs.

“Then we wrote a song called “God Has a Greater Plan” after he lost the election in 1976,” Curb said. “He was a little down and didn’t think he could run again. And I said to him, ‘God has a greater plan,’ and he said, ‘Oh, that’s what Nancy said.’ Then we wrote a song called ‘God as a Greater Plan’… and then we wrote a song. The third, ‘We Can Begin the World Over Again,’ which is all his lyrics.”

Years later, producer Mark Joseph played the song for Lee Greenwood, who decided to repair it and change it to “Let’s Start the World Over Again.”

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Greenwood recalled that memorable conversation.

“He said, ‘Ronald Reagan and Mike Curb tried to write a song,’” Greenwood told Fox News Digital, “and he sent it to me. And he said ‘It’s really not like that. It was never completed.’ The idea was to create an entire world. So innocent But it’s a really beautiful idea.”

“And I know Ronald Reagan quite well, I know Mike Curb quite well, I was on his record label for a while. And it gave me the opportunity to do the song again,” Greenwood continued, “and I redid the song for them. They liked it very much. I saved this version. And it should be released on their after-sales album from the movie ‘Reagan’ soon.”

Dennis Quaid plays Ronald Reagan in the movie Oval Office. (Noah “Nania” Hamilton/Rawhide Images)

Greenwood writes new songs But he said he kept specific lyrics, including the phrase “signs of freedom.”

The “Proud to Be an American” singer said. Tennessean that he blends Reagan’s “altruism” and Curb’s “visionary” tendencies, coupled with his desire to reframe the song, were specifically tied to his perception of the legacy of Reagan and Many of the conversations they had were about “How much does he believe the United States is the greatest symbol? in the world for freedom.”

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“These songs remind generations of what we (lovingly) reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ in American society,” Curb said of the song. “In an honest reflection of what Reagan was at his core as an entertainer and center Responsible, good and fair, who can get along with people easily.”

When asked if he was surprised by Reagan’s songwriting skills, Curb pointed out that before he entered politics, He spent many years becoming a Hollywood star. throughout his career Reagan acted or appeared in more than 50 films. He is the subject of the 2024 biopic “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th president.

Singer and songwriter Lee Greenwood (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“He’s an amazing guy,” Curb said, “because you know when you sit in the back seat with him? It’s like you’re sitting with your next-door neighbor. Very down-to-earth. I think all of my friends, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, They look back on Reagan like the old days.”

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“Start the World Over Again” will be released soon, while country singer Sara Evans is expected to release her song “God Has a Greater Plan.”

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Lambert contributed to this report.