Local singer-songwriter Mel Washington released a new single inspired by racial unrest, “Love Wins” Aug. 19. The tune premiered with American Songwriter.
“Love Wins” was written and performed with Wyatt Durrette, a local songwriter who has worked for years with Zac Brown Band.
The song is a slow tune with a powerful message: Through the pain and tiredness, love will win.
Washington told American Songwriter the song came out of a conversation. “We wanted to talk about what we’re all feeling without making it political, without yelling at one another, but really helping each other understand our experiences and our perspectives a little better,” he said.
The message is perfectly expressed through the lyric, “I know you’re scared, brother, I am too, but know fear don’t stand a chance against `I love you.’” It sets the tone for others to understand they’re not alone in their feelings.
[content-1] Race in America is something that Washington has spoken out about before. In June he had a candid conversation with Justin Grunewald of RockPoint Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“It’s not that black people don’t realize that we are all created equal, we just realize that we are not all treated equal,” he said to Grunewald. “And what I need you to do unapologetically is say that black lives matter.”
Washington and Durrette both thanked American Songwriter for premiering the song and releasing a video of the two of them performing the song together.
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