Kenny Chesney Fights Negativity With ‘Get Along’

Kenny Chesney’s recent Songs for the Saints album was written for those impacted by the devastating Hurricane Irma, which destroyed much of St. John, the island he calls home, and other Caribbean islands.

But although Chesney was thinking of the residents rebuilding their lives in the songs he wrote for his latest record, there’s a handful of songs he didn’t write on the project, including “Get Along,” which just became his 30th No. 1 hit, and was written by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Ross Copperman.

But with lines like “Get along while we can / Always give love the upper hand / Paint a wall, learn to dance / Call your mom, buy a boat / Drink a beer, sing a song / Make a friend, can’t we all get along,” the tune had a message Chesney felt was important to Songs for the Saints.

“I’ve always felt like if you sit in negativity long enough, you’ll become it,” Chesney shares on American Country Countdown (quote via Nash Country Daily). “And, I heard ‘Get Along’ and I went, ‘Wow.’ I mean, I needed to hear that in my own life as a person. It’s about moving forward —yes, it’s about getting along with everybody, but it’s also about moving forward in your life and maybe when you didn’t feel like you had the strength to.

“‘Cause people get stuck,” he continues. “I get stuck, and that’s a big thread also of what’s happening down on the islands because people are being forced to move forward and change—some are displaced, some are whatever. But look, there’s a lot of rebuilding and people moving forward and they’ve probably, maybe found some strength within them that they didn’t know even existed and that’s why I felt ‘Get Along’ was important and fit on this record.”

All of the proceeds from Songs for the Saints go to the Love for Love City Foundation, which is working on helping the islands still recovering from the deadly storm.

“If you buy this record, Songs for the Saints, every single cent of that money is going to go into the Love for Love City Foundation, which is going to help rebuild hospitals, and rebuild schools,” Chesney says on the Ty, Kelly and Chuck Show. “It’s going to be able to just help the infrastructure. Some of the businesses are back now. Some of the initial infrastructure is starting to get back, but there’s no hospital. That’s scary. That’s what I want to do. I want to be able to help on that level.”

Purchase Songs for the Saints at KennyChesney.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Emma Mcintyre