Texas Firefighter and Marine reservist Matthew Brake is going to get quite a surprise when he returns home from Iraq to learn that he has been immortalized in a famous song written by his friend Rachel Loy and released by Epic Records.
"I don't think he'll have a problem being a quasi-celebrity when he gets home, if that's even the case," joked Loy, a junior at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She wrote a song about Brake, called "The Same Man," after he was deployed to Kuwait in January, but she never expected it to go anywhere.
She said the song simply puts a face on a soldier without taking any political stance on the war. She said she wrote it because soldiers seem like a different breed, and having Brake on the front lines made her think about each soldier as an individual.
"It all just kind of came out," she said. "I really didn't expect this song to mean a lot to other people."
After Loy played the song for a local radio station, it took on a life of its own and aired on radio stations across the country, and was released as a single by Epic Records. She has received feedback from many people who say this song expresses their feelings as well, she said.
"It makes me feel like I'm doing something good, and that's good because there was so much negativity at the start of the war," she said.
Loy, 20, is also working on a solo album that Epic has the option of releasing, and is a member of an all female band in Boston called Mass Ave. She met Brake, 21, when he had just come off of probation at the Hudson Bend Fire Department in west Austin, Texas where he has worked for two years. Loy's brother-in-law is a lieutenant there and introduced the two. They began dating while Loy was home for spring break last year and have maintained a friendship ever since.
Loy said the reason Brake inspired her, aside from the fact that they dated, is because he's tremendously hardworking in his roles as a firefighter and a Marine. "He's dedicated to being a really great firefighter. He loves what he does, and he takes a lot of pride in that and in being a Marine," she said. "I have an immense amount of respect for that."
She said Brake is a favorite at the fire department because he's funny, hardworking and trustworthy.
Battalion Commander Robert Abbott couldn't have agreed more. "He's a kind, extremely athletic, stand-up guy, very honorable," Abbott said. "We really miss having him here."
Abbott said the quick popularity of the song has taken everyone by surprise. "This thing took off like wildfire and he didn't even know about it. It's unbelievable how big this thing has gotten," he said.
Abbott, who has a brother serving in Iraq, said the song is from the heart and struck a chord with everyone in the department.
"The first time we heard it, we choked up." Abbott said. "It humbled everybody."
Abbott said the song made them look at Brake in a different light. And although they are extremely proud of him, Brake's fellow firefighters will get a lot of mileage out of this when they want to tease him, Abbott joked.
Loy said Brake's family and friends have not heard a lot from him during his deployment, and they don't know when he's coming home, but they do know that he's busy and safe. She said they sent him a care package with her CD inside, but he probably hasn't had an opportunity to listen to it and doesn't know how popular it has gotten. She said he shouldn't be too surprised at the idea because she wrote him a few other songs while they were dating. "I think he will be thrilled and flattered," she said.
Related: The Rachel Loy website
