On Friday (Oct. 12), Texas-bred and Nashville-based musician Gary Nicholson released a (sort of) brand-new song, "God Help America," the lead single from his forthcoming new album. He's giving The Boot's readers an exclusive first look at the tune's accompanying music video; press play above to watch.

"God Help America" is a re-imagined version of "God Bless America." The song's simple melody runs throughout, but Nicholson adds flourishes and adjustments here and there, and blues and folk singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster contributes background vocals. Nicholson's rewritten lyrics, meanwhile, reflect the artist's frustration with the current political and social climate in the U.S.: "God help America / Land that I love / So divided / Undecided / So in need of help from above ..."

"I’ve witnessed some insanity through the years. But today’s troubles are different," Nicholson tells The Boot, "and I wasn’t hearing anybody singing about what's on everybody's mind every day, so I said, ‘Well, I'm just gonna put this out there.’”

Nashville photographer and videographer Stacie Huckeba created the "God Help America" music video. The song will appear on Nicholson's next album, The Great Divide; it's due out in early 2019.

One of Music City's most esteemed songwriters, producers and artists, Nicholson has written 600-plus songs for and with artists including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks and many, many more. He's the winner of numerous Grammy Awards, and co-wrote one of the songs for the 2009 film Crazy Heart. Readers can learn more about him, and his next project, at GaryNicholson.com.

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