Nowadays it feels like we’re in a constant state of waiting for the other shoe to drop: another breaking-news cycle made up of a sea of bullets. When it comes to mass shootings, it’s no longer a matter of if it will happen again, but when and where the next one will be.

A school? A concert? A church?The Elonzo Wesley band’s “Emanuel” is a pretty self-explanatory song reflecting upon one of the most infamous mass shootings in recent U.S. history. Frontman Jeremy Davis (guitar, vocals) penned the ballad right after 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof left nine people dead in 2015 at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Davis was on the road at the time, staying in a Tennessee Motel 6 when he woke up to hear the news.