As the debate over NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem ragesTrace Adkins has announced the release of his song "Still a Soldier" as a new single. The song will officially be going for adds at country radio on Nov. 6 but is available for airplay now.

"We recorded this song well over a year ago, and my intent was always to release it as a tip of my hat to those who have served," Adkins says in an email to radio programmers. "For those who have crawled off the battlefield but still stand for the anthem ... this is for you."

From Adkins' newest album, Something's Going On, "Still a Soldier" was written by Phil O’Donnell and Wade Kirby. The mid-tempo tune tells the story of a military veteran with "a corner lot on Dogwood Drive / A year-old truck and a nine-to-five ... A pretty wife / With a baby due." As the song's chorus explains, although the song's subject is no longer serving, "he's still a soldier." 

"He's still a soldier / His blood runs red, white and blue / He put away his gun and boots / But he still believes / The American Dream," Adkins sings in the chorus of "Still a Soldier." "'Til his last breath / He'll always be / A soldier."

Unforgettable Country Music Military Moments

Making "Still a Soldier" particularly relevant these days are the lines "After church, he'll watch the game / And have a beer or two / He'll stand up when he hears the Anthem / And that won't ever change."

Readers can press play below to hear "Still a Soldier" and watch its lyric video, which features the song's lines popping up over patriotic imagery: the American flag, military helicopters, a soldier standing guard.

Adkins’ 12th studio album, Something’s Going On was released on March 31; it is the singer’s first album with BBR Music Group’s Wheelhouse Records, with which he signed in 2015. In addition to "Still a Soldier," the record includes Adkins’ previous singles “Jesus and Jones” (released in late 2015), “Lit” (released in the summer of 2016) and “Watered Down” (released earlier this year).

Listen to Trace Adkins' "Still a Soldier"

Country Stars Wearing the American Flag

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