Written while the songwriter's own father was dying of cancer, "This Life" became a personal story of not just Ronald Reagan, but two men facing their end.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Love Lies & Fiction have released a new music video featuring scenes from the Reagan movie for their new song, "This Life," an original song by the Gainesville-based band. The band had worked closely with the film on a different song, "This Is How The World Ends," (https://youtu.be/_S7ejwKBWMI) which was used in the film during a crucial scene of negotiations between Reagan and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The Director's Cut, featuring 10 additional minutes of previously unseen footage will premiere in 600 theaters on September 25th, 2026, but will not feature the alternate ending.
Created especially for the band to share with its audience and fans, the video preserves the film's original dialogue and footage as an aging Ronald Reagan realizes that his declining health means it is no longer safe for him to ride. Reagan asks his Secret Service agent for "one more ride," passes a teary-eyed Nancy Reagan one final time, and gallops into the California landscape as "This Life" begins. (https://youtu.be/2Ax4tyEXtE8)
"The band's song 'This Is How The World Ends' added real drama to Reagan and Gorbachev's historic negotiations in Reykjavik," said REAGAN producer Mark Joseph. "We loved what Love Lies & Fiction brought to REAGAN. They're incredibly talented and we were pleased to have them on our soundtrack."
For Love Lies & Fiction front man and songwriter Eric Jackson, however, "This Life" carried a meaning even the filmmakers did not initially know.
Jackson wrote the song after Joseph shared details of Reagan's final years: a man confronting Alzheimer's disease, losing abilities that had defined his independence, and facing an increasingly uncertain future. That uncertainty found its way directly into the song's lyrics.
At the same time, Jackson's own father was dying of cancer.
"My father had lost my mother, remarried and fallen in love again, and then learned that his own life was coming to an end," Jackson said. "He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave his wife. So while I was writing about Reagan, I was imagining how my father must have felt. Somewhere along the way, the song became about both of them." Jackson's father died approximately six months after his diagnosis.
"Reagan had Nancy. My father had his wife," Jackson said. "Two very different lives, but the same terribly human feeling: I love this life, and I'm not ready to leave it."
The new video gives the song an extraordinary setting: Reagan asking for one more ride, while the songwriter, confronting his own father's mortality, asks for essentially the same thing through his music: just a little more time: https://ffm.to/this-life-4vzh
ABOUT LOVE LIES & FICTION:
Love Lies & Fiction is a Gainesville, Florida-based band that has been writing, recording, and releasing original music since 2017. The band's songs cover the full arc of love, from falling in love to commitment to loss, and range from serious to humorous. Its music has appeared in mainstream films including REAGAN, as well as independent films including 2023's Asteroid. The band's music is available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and YouTube, where its REAGAN music videos are currently streaming. For additional information or an EPK, contact [email protected]
Media Contact
Love Lies and Fiction Band, Love Lies and Fiction Band, 1 352-247-7909, [email protected], LoveLiesAndFiction.com
SOURCE Love Lies and Fiction Band
Share this article