EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: Writing ‘Rolling Thunder’
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Rolling Thunder is an advocacy group with a mission dedicated to the accountability of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Each year, on Memorial Day weekend, hundreds of thousands of veterans and supporters unite in Washington D.C. as a demonstration for Rolling Thunder’s cause.
Three years ago, on the 25th anniversary of the run, a song would play as the official theme of the event. Our Extraordinary Person of the Week is Wilmington’s Mike Raab who wrote it.
The lyrics of the theme song come from Wilmington man. A theme song called “Rolling Thunder” that had a journey of its own.
“He says, I know you write a lot of music, because I do, I write alot, like soundtracks,” Mike Raab told Daniel Seamans. “I said, you got Rolling Thunder 25 coming up, that’s a big deal. He said, yep. Why don’t you write a song about it?”
Mike Raab’s old friend, veteran, and member of the Rolling Thunder got the idea started.
Rabb would then, partnering up with some of his old colleagues from the Jelly Bean Bandits, put together a rough version of a song that would eventually become the theme for Rolling Thunder 25. Eventually.
“JK(Loftin), I said, can you help me make this something decent?” Raab said of asking a local recording studio for help, “so he listened to it and said, this is junk. It’s a great song with a lousy recording.”
That local recording studio came to the rescue.
Fast forward after a little help from a couple local musicians and veterans, Mike Raab would send it to the Rolling Thunder in D.C. for approval. Ohhhh so close.
“One line. ‘Two guys from Jersey’,” Raab sang the incorrect lyrics. “He(of Rolling Thunder) said, no no. We’re the guys from DC. So me and JK went back to the studio to replace two lines.”
The finishing touch to the official theme song of Rolling Thunder 25.
“We get up there for Rolling Thunder 25,” Raab said, “3 years ago, and they opened up the whole show with two huge screens showing our video. We were taken a back.”
Mike Raab’s lyrics and music playing right before their eyes to a crowd like no other.
And for this veteran, himself, it was an emotional journey from the studio….to the ride itself….to the wall.
“The thing that really got me,” Raab said, “riding was one thing, but I’ve never been to the wall. So I went to the wall and you look through the books to see somebody you know. A classmate of mine died in Vietnam, I looked him up, went like that(holding fingers to the wall around the name), and just started crying.”
Raab’s extraordinary lyrics created a song that overcame obstacles of its own for all of the world to hear.
A song that will play until they all come home.
To watch Mike Raab’s song in its entirety, CLICK HERE.
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