About the song
As catastrophic flash floods ravaged the heart of Texas Hill Country, leaving behind a rising death toll now surpassing 130 lives—with at least 106 lost in Kerr County alone—America watched in horror and heartbreak. Thirty-six of the victims were children, swept away in what officials are calling one of the deadliest natural disasters in the state’s recent memory. Torrents of rain pushed the Guadalupe River well beyond its banks, swallowing homes, camps, and entire families. FEMA arrived under a federal disaster declaration signed by President Trump, but rescue efforts have been stalled by worsening conditions and repeated storm surges.
Against this backdrop of devastation, an old voice broke through the chaos—not over the wail of sirens or flood alerts, but in a song echoing across screens and speakers: Willie Nelson’s rendition of “Always on My Mind.” With its slow, aching confession and weathered delivery, the song became an unofficial hymn of mourning. In communities like Kerrville, where Highway 39 is now shut to all but emergency vehicles, Willie’s voice offered something rare: comfort. Not solutions, not answers—just the human ache of regret, of things unsaid, of love held too long in silence.
Rescue operations, now involving drones, boats, and aerial teams, remain active but face dangerous delays. Entire neighborhoods brace for more rain. Among those still unaccounted for are John Green, brother of country singer Pat Green, along with his wife and two children, last seen near floodwaters outside Kerrville. Their story is not isolated—many families remain missing, their homes reduced to debris or vanished altogether.
As flash flood warnings blanket counties like Gillespie and Kerr, and volunteers continue their desperate work in the mud and rain, one line from Nelson’s song lingers painfully in the air: “Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could have.” In this moment of national grief, his words feel like both an elegy and a reminder—not just of what we’ve lost, but of what still remains to be held tightly, before it’s too late.