Cresson native to perform song at Flight 93 Memorial
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Josh Gallagher will be performing his new original song, "Never Forget," at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville on Friday, Sept. 11.
"It's the biggest honor of my career so far," Gallagher said.
Currently available for presave across streaming platforms, "Never Forget" will be released on Sept. 4 this year, just in time for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
The journey of "Never Forget" started in 2020 when Chip Minemyer approached Gallagher about the two working together to write the song. After taking some time off to focus on his family, Gallagher was ready to jump back in.
The concept for the song centers around its title -- an expression that has now become permanently connected with the 9/11 attacks.
"Before 2001, the phrase 'never forget' was just two words, but it took on a whole new meaning after 9/11," Gallagher explained. Keeping that in mind, Gallagher and Minemyer decided on a song that runs through a timeline of that day.
"All the times in the song are accurate, even the time of the sunrise on the East Coast that day," Gallagher said.
He wanted the song to act as an emotional history lesson for the younger generation, as he believes the attacks should continue to be talked about in every community.
Along with educating those who did not experience 9/11 personally, Gallagher and Minemyer aimed to have a song that could be relatable to those who vividly remember that day. The first verse starts out by telling the story of a normal, average day, purposely leaving out specifics. The narrative then shifts to describing the familiar dread of watching the news as the planes hit the towers.
"That vision is so relatable because everybody was just glued to their TV. Everybody was watching the exact same thing at the exact same time," Gallagher said. "From a songwriter perspective, I really like to keep things a little more open and vague so that everybody can relate to it in their own way instead of being so specific to your personal experience."
Gallagher himself was only in fifth grade in 2001. During the attacks, he recalls arriving at school just to be immediately sent home.
He said he is not sure what caused his initial apprehension to tackle the song, but it could possibly be due to his young age at the time.
"I think I was a little bit scared of it at first. I didn't think that it was something that I could live up to," he said. Fortunately, after recording it and playing it live for audiences, he has become much more attached to it. "It's showing me how much of an impact this song could potentially have," he said.
Gallagher's aunt and scheduler, Sandy Felix, was involved in the plan to have him perform "Never Forget" during the Flight 93 Memorial morning observance.
"Writing a song about 9/11 is a massive responsibility, but he and Chip Minemyer approached it with so much respect and heart," Felix said. "'Never Forget' is a beautiful tribute that really captures the emotion of that day."
The Flight 93 observance will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. near the Wall of Names. Gallagher will have to battle his own emotions when performing the song for the families, first responders, and visitors who will come out that day to honor the heroes who changed the course of that flight.
"To sing this particular song, on that particular day, during the ceremony at the place where the plane went down, that's going to be really hard to do," he admitted.
In preparation for the performance, he reminds himself of the song's most important aspect.
"It's to not let that unfortunate, tragic memory die because what came out of it made this country so much stronger," Gallagher said. "Such a horrific event brought everybody down to their knees, and then we all linked up arms."