‘I Drive Your Truck’ Takes Home CMA for Best Song of the Year
A Ford F-150 and the open road help a young man cope with loss in Brice's award-winning song.
Last night at the 2013 CMA Awards, Lee Brice took home ‘Best Song of the Year’ for his tear-jerking hit, I Drive Your Truck.
In the I Drive Your Truck song and video, a young man remembers his friend, an Army soldier lost in combat, by taking his old Ford F-100 truck out for a spin in the country. It is a story about coping with death in unique ways, and has become an anthem for those who struggle with the daily battle of loss and acceptance.
After the award show at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, 33-year-old Brice graciously surrendered all of the credit to the songwriters. “I just wanted to take a second to say that I was presenting [at the CMA awards], so I wan’t able to really thank and congratulate the writers of I Drive Your Truck. Because the Song of the Year [award], that’s all about them.”
The song is a collaboration by Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander and Jimmy Yeary. While on the road one day, Harrington tuned into the voice of a grieving father on NPR who was telling about his son, Sgt. Jared Monti. During a battle in Afghanistan, Monti was killed while attempting to save the life of a soldier under his command. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, but more touching was how his father chose to remember him. Paul Monti still drove his son’s 2001 Dodge Ram 1500.
I Drive Your Truck, Lee Brice:
Rain Blanken is an author who specializes in covering art, travel and the automotive industry. With three kids and a lot of road trips ahead of her, she is always excited to review the latest models and to check out classic car shows. Rain has written for The New York Times, Barnes & Noble and Running Press. She currently lives in the land of cornfields and airfields; Dayton, Ohio. See more articles by Rain.