We live in polarized times. With recent tragedies inciting endless protesting and anger, the divisiveness seems to grow ever wider by the day.

Through it all, people are forgetting the importance of first responders and the value of their lives.

“It shouldn’t take the death of five peace officers for Americans to have appreciation for our police.”

Dave Bray, the former lead singer of patriotic rock band Madison Rising, has not forgotten at all. He has been using his new solo career to highlight fallen police officers with his recently released song, “Last Call.”

The tribute has more meaning than ever in light of recent Dallas events. Bray says the song has a very special message on top of saluting fallen first responders.

“It shouldn’t take the death of five peace officers for Americans to have appreciation for our police,” Bray tells LifeZette. “I think we should appreciate them because they stand between us, the law-abiding citizens and our families and the Godless jackals, who have no regard for human life.”

The song, which references a last call sent out over the radio to salute a fallen officer, was not inspired by recent events and heated debates surrounding police — but from a quiet and reflective moment for Bray.

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“I actually heard a ‘last call’ go out over a radio for a fallen officer,” he says.

“They cleared the air for emergency broadcast only and then began calling out the badge number of the fallen hero — each time answered only by silence. It shook me to my core. You knew that there would be no response, but yet they called as if to give his warrior spirit one last chance to answer. I wanted to write the answer to that last call … to give that officer his last words.”

The song is a tribute and thank-you to fallen police officers, as well as an attempt to open the eyes of those steadfastly against the notion of appreciating the police, he says.

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“I wrote ‘Last Call’ as an attempt to humanize the cop, to see him as a family man, a man with kids, integrity, brotherhood, but still not without his flaws. I wanted people to understand that his, just like yours, is a real life.”

Bray continues by highlighting the positive effect artists can have in these uncertain and torn times. “I think that artists in general have the ability to speak to the masses. Especially musicians.”

Spreading a message successfully through music is something Bray knows well. During his time fronting the popular Madison Rising, Bray lead a cover on “The Star Spangled Banner,” a move that got the band much press attention. The video for the 2012 rendition of the anthem has nabbed nearly 7 million views on YouTube.

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The band also performed the theme song for one of their biggest fans’ television shows — Sarah Palin’s “Amazing America.”

Now touring as a solo artist, Bray still believes the message of patriotism is just as important as it ever was, if not more.

“We are polarized to the point that approximately half of America has lost a genuine appreciation for everything that’s good in this country — words like constitution, faith, family, patriotism, military, hard work, education, police, and freedom mean nothing to nearly half of our society.”

Not all of Bray’s recent musical offerings have been political. Two other recent singles, “Thinking About Drinking” and “Guitar Graveyard,” sound like they would be right at home on any mainstream country station.

Related: A Marine’s Tribute to a Fallen Friend

“I’ll always be a God-fearing, freedom-loving, flag-waving patriot, but music can’t always be just about that,” says Bray. “I’ll always have that within me but I’ll never again confine myself when it comes to art. It’s creative suicide. There’s too many other songs that need to be written about too many other things.”

Still, “Last Call” is an important song to Bray, one with a message he believes needs to be heard.

As for what can help the culture surrounding police officers in these heated times, Bray says, “If instead we taught a little more respect for our police and educated our youth on the importance of their position in society — as well as the daily life-or-death circumstances by which they are confronted and the serious nature of their job, instead of making them out to be heartless storm troopers with vendettas against the peaceful American society — I certainly think that would be a step in the right direction.”