With additional verse written by the fans, the song was first performed during the Jersey4Jersey benefit special, which raised $6 million.
After being forced to cancel their world tour and delay the highly-anticipated album Bon Jovi: 2020, the band announced today, through their official website, that the new album has officially been postponed to October 2, 2020.
Originally set for release on May 15, 2020, the album, with a more socially conscious approach, is titled for a challenging and pivotal election year. "Unbroken", written for the film "To Be of Service," released in 2019, discusses soldiers who have PTSD from their point of view [1], "Lower the Flag" is inspired by the 2019 Dayton shooting [2]. "Blood in the Water" is a song about migrants and the struggles they face. [3]
However, amid an unexpectedly world-altering coronavirus pandemic, followed quickly by the staggering events of George Floyd’s death and the ensuing national movement for racial equality, Bon Jovi found they had more to say. Writing from a home studio, two new songs were born: “American Reckoning” and “Do What You Can”, which encompass these events, making the album a complete body of work.
Jon Bon Jovi was inspired to write “Do What You Can” after his wife Dorothea posted a photo of him helping out at his JBJ Soul Kitchen Community Restaurant with the caption “If You Can’t Do What You Do… Do What You Can.” A complete song was created the next day, but instead of releasing the complete song, Jon asked fans to “write their verse” and tell their story. Jon sang the first verse and chorus and went on to receive thousands of fan-created verses, both heartbreaking and heartwarming, in a flood of responses across band socials with the #DoWhatYouCan hashtag.
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