"My Church": Nostalgia, Tradition, and the Rise of the Secular Praise and Worship Anthem
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2022)v12i1.8enKeywords:
Country Music, Religion, Conservatism, Feminism, Maren MorrisAbstract
Maren Morris’s song, “My Church,” is hardly controversial, with harmonies, form, and lyrics that give reverential honor to country music’s conservative and sacred traditions. “My Church” fits well within this conservative tradition, yet evangelical websites were replete with warnings of the dangerous threat planted by Morris’s secular restructuring of the traditional church and included strategies for how to thwart such threats. This article analyzes Morris’s song and music video, searching for musical, lyrical, and cultural reasons for that negative response and explores the meaning of religion through the reaction to the song.References
Bibliography
Andre, Joshua. April 22, 2019. “Momentous Mondays: Influential Artists of the Next 5-10 Years – Week 1: Maren Morris.” 365 Days of Inspiring Media. www.365daysofinspiringmedia.com/articles/momentous-mondays-influential-artists-of-the-next-5-10-years-week-1-maren-morris/. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Brumley, Jeff. “Is music a religion—and should the church be worried if it is?” Baptist Global News, June 2, 2016. https://baptistnews.com/article/is-music-a-religion-and-should-the-church-be-worried-if-it-is/#.WXeUoxPytsN. Accessed: July 25, 2017.
Cobb, James C. March 28, 2018. “How Nashville ‘Killed’ Traditional Country Music—and Then Reinvented It.” Zócalo Public Square. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2018/03/28/nashville-killed-traditional-country-music-reinvented/ideas/essay/. Accessed: Feb. 6, 2020.
Ellison, Curtis W. 1995. Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Garvin, Becca. Jan. 15, 2017. “What to do when loved ones look for help in all the wrong places.” New Spring Church: Articles. https://newspring.cc/articles/looking-for-redemption-in-all-the-wrong-places. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Grant, Tobin. May 23, 2016. “Can Music Be Your Religion?” Religion News Service. http://religionnews.com/2016/05/23/can-music-be-your-religion/. Accessed: Jan. 18, 2018.
Hammett, Eddie. n.d. Transforming Solutions. http://www.transformingsolutions.org/. Accessed: July 25, 2017.
Hyman, Dan. February 14, 2017. “Maren Morris Is Here to Kick Ass and Win Grammys.” https://www.gq.com/story/maren-morris-grammy. Accessed: July 29, 2018.
Leahey, Andrew. August 7, 2014. “Flashback: The Dixie Chicks are Ashamed of the President…Again.” Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-the-dixie-chicks-are-ashamed-of-the-president-again-80036/. Accessed: March 7, 2019.
Levitin, Daniel J. 2008. The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. New York: Plume.
Malone, Bill C. and Jocelyn R. Neal. 2010. Country Music, U.S.A. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Mastrogiannis, Nicole. June 3, 2016. “Interview: Maren Morris Names 5 Music Heroes and Talks New Album ‘Hero’.” https://www.iheart.com/news/interview-maren-morris-names-5-music-14776070/. Accessed: July 29, 2018.
McKee, James. February 24, 2017. “My Church: A Quick Music Discussion Guide for Parents.” http://www.thesource4parents.com/MusicDiscussions/MusicDiscussions.aspx?id=84. Accessed: July 29, 2018.
Morris, Maren. 2015. “Annotations on ‘My Church’ Lyrics.” https://genius.com/8512007. Accessed: July 29, 2018.
Peart, Kyle. August 10, 2016. “Line-Dancing: Careful, it Gets Blurry…” Once-Lost: Evangelism and Apologetics Ministry. www.once-lost.com/line-dancing-careful-it-gets-blurry/. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Queen, Chris. August 5, 2016. “Country Music – Not Safe for Christians Anymore?” https://pjmedia.com/faith/2016/08/05/country-music-not-safe-for-christians-anymore/. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Scherman, Tony. 1994. “Country.” American Heritage, Vol. 45, Issue 7. https://www.americanheritage.com/country. Accessed: Feb. 6, 2020.
Smith, Grady. January 13, 2016. “Country’s Jesus-and-partying crew cheapen both the faith and the music.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/13/country-music-jesus-partying-christianity. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Weyel, Joseph. April 15, 2017. “‘My Church’ is a siren song for country.” Theology+Now. https://theologynow.org/2017/04/15/my-church-is-a-siren-song-for-country/. Accessed: Jan. 18, 2018.
White, Caitlin. June 3, 2016. “Maren Morris Is Country Music’s New Hero.” Brooklyn Magazine. www.bkmag.com/2016/06/03/maren-morris-hero/. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Zach, Tyler. July 31, 2017. “Borrowing Religious Imagery for Pop Songs.” CultureReader. www.culturereader.com/religious-imagery-pop-songs/. Accessed: Jan. 16, 2020.
Discography
Morris, Maren. 2016. Hero. Columbia Nashville, USA.
Videography
Morris, Maren. 2016. “My Church.” Columbia Nashville, USA.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 IASPM Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright, while licensing their work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
