Ray Stevens: 20 Years since 9/11...

It's 20 years ago to the day...September 11, 2001. In the passage of time it's been abbreviated as 9/11. Terrorists took over multiple airplanes on September 11, 2001. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were flown into the World Trade Center twin towers. The towers collapsed within 90 minutes. Elsewhere, at the Pentagon, American Airlines Flight 77 hit the side of the building causing a partial collapse. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. This was the flight where passengers attempted to take over the flight from the hijackers...and they successfully caused the flight to crash before it made it to it's destination. Historians and investigators say that Flight 93 was headed toward Washington, D.C. and that it possibly meant to crash into the White House or The U.S. Capitol. 

In country music there was a wave of patriotic music that swept into favor in the hours, days, weeks, months, and several years following 9/11. The Presidency of George W. Bush was still in it's infancy...a little more than half a year old...and it came to dominate his Presidency. His 2004 re-election was decisive. In addition to the conventional patriotic music there were as many zany, novelty songs and this is where Ray Stevens fits into the equation. 

In the latter half of 2001, several months following 9/11, Ray Stevens emerged with the novelty, "Osama Yo' Mama". Ray and Buddy Kalb wrote the song and it comically relates how Osama bin Laden, one of the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks, should remain hiding in a cave with the bats because he's become public enemy number one. Ray questions the upbringing Osama must have had and he scolds bin Laden's mother for raising a terrorist. However, in keeping the song light and fun, Ray vocally mimics Osama's mama...who in turn scolds her son and warns him that Dubya is gonna get him. For those that don't know, Dubya was the so-called nickname for George W. Bush. Instead of pronouncing his middle initial as Double You the President's southern accent had it sounding like Dubya instead. So, throughout the song, Osama's mama warns her son of Dubya and scolds her son for not listening to her advice over the years. Ray, in addition to vocalizing Osama's mama, plays the part of Dubya...who warns Osama that there's going to be hell to pay. He warns Osama that the U.S. Military has an answer to his terror and they're gonna shove it up his...well, you know what. The single sold more than half a million copies by the spring of 2002. Curb Records had released the single and they later issued an album. The album features "United We Stand", which was the original B-side of the "Osama Yo' Mama" single in 2001. The Osama Yo' Mama album reached the Top-30 on the Country Album chart in 2002. There was a music video made of the song...and Ray has never officially uploaded the music video onto the internet. Later in 2002 "Hello Mama" surfaced...this was a sequel to "Osama Yo' Mama". In "Hello Mama" Osama's mama takes the spotlight and is constantly calling her son...relaying things to him that she's hearing while her son's in hiding. He, in turn, pleads for more money...fearing that one day he'll end up in Guantanamo Bay.

As history shows, Osama never ended up in Guantanamo...instead he was killed by the U.S. Navy Seals on May 2, 2011. 

A few years after 9/11 Ray Stevens issued, in 2004, the patriotic themed Thank You. In addition to the title track there's a song on there titled "Let's Roll" which was inspired by a phrase spoken by Todd Beamer while aboard Flight 93...the plane that passengers attempted to take control of, in flight, from the terrorists. The commotion caused that flight to crash in Pennsylvania. Ray Stevens wrote "Let's Roll"...one of several songs he wrote for the Thank You album. 

As most of you will certainly agree...this 20th Anniversary remembrance of the September 11th terror attacks is bittersweet. In years past we'd unite and recall the events taking place in an unsuspecting country on the morning of September 11th just prior to the first plane crashing into the tower. We could also depend on a lot of patriotism and strong Military appraisal. This year, however, while the memories of 9/11 will be examined and spoke about, this year it will be with a cruel twist of irony. The very same group of people who pretty much sponsored the 9/11 attacks and gave aid and support to those hijackers on September 11, 2001 are now in complete control of Afghanistan following a hasty surrender of the U.S. Military at the command of the President on August 31, 2021. Today, the rulers of Afghanistan will officially begin their Government on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11...they took over what was once the U.S. Embassy...and today they formally raise their flag where the U.S. flag once flown. 

Never Forget 9/11...no matter what's happened in the last couple of weeks. The U.S. Military's hasty, abrupt withdraw from the region wasn't the fault of the soldiers...you all did your job and kept terrorism away from the U.S. for 20 years. This colossal global embarrassment/strategic failure is the result of the White House, The State Department, and The Pentagon.  

The audio track of "Let's Roll" from the Thank You album isn't on YouTube...but, luckily, the audio track is available on a couple of other Ray Stevens albums whose audio tracks are on YouTube: Box Set (2005) and We The People (2010). In closing I've decided to embed the audio track, "Let's Roll", from the pen of Ray Stevens...