Hootie & the Blowfish, Abigail Hodges Team Up To Honor Military With ‘Won’t Be Home For Christmas’

Hoodie & the Blowfish have teamed up with Abigail Hodges (daughter of famed Nashville producer David Hodges) to honor the US Military and their families with a new song called “Won’t Be Home For Christmas.”

The melancholy holiday tune, penned by Hootie & the Blowfish, opens with the young Hodges’ emotional plea, “Dear Santa Claus / I write to you because / I don’t want toys this year / I just want my daddy here.” She continues, “He’s gone to fight in the war / He’s a Sgt. in the Corp / My mommy says he makes / The world a safer place / But I’m scared for him now ’cause he’s not coming home for Christmas.”

Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker then jumps in, narrating the painful sentiments of a military father’s heartache during Christmas.

“Dear family, hang in there with me / It’s hard to rest at ease this Christmas overseas / Artificial green and red the blood we’ve seen / We have God on our side, but we won’t be home for Christmas.”

“Abigail is actually the daughter of David Hodges, who’s an awesome producer here in Nashville” notes Rucker in a press statement. “She did a great job of adding that perspective to this song and really bringing the lyrics to life.”

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We feel very fortunate to have the freedom to enjoy the holidays with our families, however we know that isn’t the case for everyone. Whether they’re deployed overseas or stationed far away from their families, this can be a tough time for military members. We wanted to really pay tribute to that sacrifice and thank these men and women for everything they do to keep us safe. Listen to “Won’t Be Home For Christmas”, featuring Abigail Hodges, at the link in our bio.

A post shared by Hootie & the Blowfish (@hootieofficial) on Oct 23, 2020 at 6:19am PDT

“We feel very fortunate to have the freedom to enjoy the holidays with our families, however we know that isn’t the case for everyone,” adds guitarist Mark Bryan. “Whether they’re deployed overseas or stationed far away from their families, this can be a tough time for military members. We wanted to really pay tribute to that sacrifice and thank these men and women for everything they do to keep us safe.”

“Won’t Be Home For Christmas” follows Hootie & the Blowfish’s highly anticipated 2019 album Imperfect Circle, which marked the band’s first new full-length release in 14 years.

Listen to “Won’t Be Home for Christmas” and other new releases on our New Nashville playlist below.