David Ball: "Riding With Private Malone"

While singers all over Nashville scrambled to get into recording studios to record patriotic songs after Sept. 11, the country song that tapped most subtly and profoundly into the emotions of its audience was already on the radio. Shipped to country stations a month before the terrorist attacks, David Ball's "Riding With Private Malone" tells of a man who buys a '66 Corvette for $1,000, then finds a note from the car's previous owner in the glove box. Penned by a soldier shipping out for Vietnam, it reads: "If you're reading this, then I didn't make it home. But for every dream that's shattered, another one comes true. This car was once a dream of mine. Now it belongs to you." Later, the man wrecks the car and is saved from the fiery crash by a mysterious stranger he swears was the private.