Songfacts®:

• This is the second single from Country music artist James Otto's third studio album, Shake What God Gave Ya. During a pre-release show that Otto gave, he explained that his wife Amy chose this song for the record. "She's picked her favorite song," said Otto, "'Soldiers and Jesus.' It's a really powerful song, something that only comes along once in a while and really moves people. It's about the only two people who ever died for me, soldiers and Jesus. It's really resonated with the country fan base."
• This touching ballad addresses the sacrifice military men and women make. Otto explained to The Boot why he felt it was important to include a patriotic tune on Shake What God Gave Ya. Said Otto: "I thought it was something poignant for our time. Anything we can do to shine a light on those guys is a good thing. Even the press, they report on it every day but the sacrifice becomes minimized and it becomes a generalized idea of war vs. a personal thing. This family over here is suffering, and that is the more important story ... the sacrifice people make. We're doing it for a purpose, but those guys didn't go there on their own volition, they're doing a job they need to do. I don't know if people understand the sacrifice they make. But we all know people who have been affected by what's going on around the world, whether it's a friend or a family member. I think people in the country genre understand it; they're the ardent supporters of the military, and they're usually the ones being called up to go. They make up a lot of our men and women in the service. This song is one of those things meant to highlight that, and if they don't understand, maybe this song will help."