It's been a long and arduous recovery period for Bob "Slim" Dunlap, the former Replacements guitarist who suffered a severe stroke this past February. Though he's transitioned out of the hospital and into a rehabilitation facility, Dunlap's family reports that he's still experiencing a great deal of pain and has a long road ahead.

Over the past few months, Dunlap's friends from the Twin Cities and beyond have rallied behind him in numerous ways -- first, with a Slim Dunlap Fan Club page on Facebook, where his family can easily connect with friends and supporters, and then with a fundraiser that has already pulled in over $14,000 to help with medical expenses.

This week, as a way to show his support for his fallen former bandmate, founding Replacements drummer Chris Mars is offering up an extraordinary gift: a new song, the first he's released publicly in over a decade and a half, that pays tribute to Dunlap.

"I wrote this song for Slim, he was my inspiration for it," says Mars, who transitioned away from music in the mid-'90s to focus on visual art. "While I still make music, I don’t share it much outside of the context of the films I make."  

"[Slim]’s having health complications that are making rehabilitation that much more difficult for him," Mars continues. "I wrote this song for him quite spontaneously and decided to go public with it, so to speak, to raise money for Slim and his family while they navigate these challenges. It’s available as a 99-cent download on my website with proceeds benefiting the Dunlaps. It’s also my hope that this small thing can show Slim and his family that people have him in mind, and care, and are rooting for him, because those things truly inspire Slim to fight and be well."   

You can preview the song in the streaming widget below. We'll also be playing it on the Current today at 11 a.m. and again on Sunday night during our Local Show (which runs 6-8 p.m. on 89.3FM).

Stream: Chris Mars, "When I Fall Down" (purchase here)