For many people, upon hearing the phrase, “country music” the first idea that comes to their mind is one of the three: drinking, trucks, or heartbreak. Personally, one of the things that I have always loved about country music was the fact that faith and God was intertwined so heavily in the songs of multiple artists over the years. The list contains performers from Johnny Cash to Carrie Underwood to Randy Travis. The prominence of faith in country songs range from subtle hints to the most blatant lyrics one could listen to.
The fact that country music generated in the south (AKA The Bible Belt), a place known for deep religious roots, it isn’t hard to understand why there are a plethora of songs that tell listeners about God, the concept of heaven, or miracles being done. I love how the genre has artists that sing about the values that they hold dear to them, despite some backlash from critics.
The prime example of this is Carrie Underwood. Underwood had recorded the song, “Something in the Water,” that tells the story of her being baptized and how it changed her life, with lyrics such as: “So I followed that preacher man down to the river/ and now I’m changed/ and now I’m stronger.” Despite criticism from her atheist fans Carrie was quoted expressing to Glamour magazine, “I’m not the first person to sing about God, Jesus or faith [or] any of that, and I won’t be the last. And it won’t be the last for me, either. If you don’t like it, change the channel.” I admire her strong stance for her faith and the fact that she isn’t going to waiver because some people may not like it.
Despite the fact that religion and Christianity is a controversial topic that usually isn’t heard in other genres Brad Paisley said it best when he sang, “And tellin’ folks Jesus is the answer can rub ’em wrong… But this is country music and we do!” My love for country music will never change because this is the only field of music that sings about concepts of value and ones that are important to me.
I have compiled a list of my Top 3 Favorite Faith Filled songs and why they mean so much to me…
1). I believe by Brooks and Dunn
I love the story in these lyrics because it tells of times when people go through hard times of loss and the only way to find the strength to get through it is by reading the Bible, praying, and understanding there is more after this life ends.
2). Three wooden crosses by Randy Travis
This song makes me tear up every time I listen to it because it tells a story of how we should love every person, no matter his or her walk of life, because every person is important. The song is from the point of view of a preacher who is telling a story of a horrible car accident, where a preacher, teacher, farmer, and a hooker. The preacher gave the hooker his “blood stained bible,” as she was the only one to survive. The hooker ends up being the mother of the narrator (the other preacher), who changes her life due to the bible she received that night.
3.) Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood
This song resonates with me so much due to the fact that I have had to tell Jesus multiple times “take the wheel!” When life gets hard or unbearable at times, I know I can’t get through it myself and I need help from Him to guide me the direction I need to go.
Even though religion is a common theme in many country songs, I’ve always found it interesting that many atheists still enjoy listening to country songs with Christian themes. In contrast, I don’t think non-religious people get the same enjoyment from genres like Christian rock. I noticed that the songs you pick are more focused on experiences that are often talked about by Christians, but are shared by non-religious people as well. For example in the songs you listed, even non-Christian people can relate to dealing with loss, having compassion for people, and letting go when life gets tough. In contrast, sometimes strictly Christian songs focus more on the actual beliefs and Biblical stories instead of experiences or stories.
Although I don’t really judge a song based on what they’re singing about, I can relate to what you’re saying. It’s good to see that Underwood sticks up for herself. I liked how she said “If you don’t like it, change the channel.” Even though some people might take offense to this and call her arrogant, I completely agree with her. It’s too hard, probably impossible, to try and please everyone if you want to have a successful career. I agree with Paige when she says even non-believers can appreciate country music. When I listen to country, I try to be as unbiased as possible. However, there will always be that small population that tries to find fault with successful people.
Great blog post I really enjoyed it. I liked that you chose religious music as your topic, since it is very controversial. Country singers should be able to sing about their religious values and views without them being held against them. That is why I liked it when I read that when Carrie Underwood got bad reviews on a song from her atheist fan base, she stuck to her beliefs, and said that she believes she was right and that she will keep on writing religious songs. I enjoyed the songs you shared on the post as they show how meaningful these songs are for some people and how successful religious songs can become.
I liked this a lot. Singing about a higher power is one of my favorite things in country music because it sounds like singers are giving up to a higher power. This would be a great idea for a buzzfeed article. It would be a very easy list to expand to 17 Country songs that church choirs could sing or something like that. As soon as I saw the title of this post I knew there was going to be some “Jesus Take the wheel” and you made me wait for it, but I was happy to see it at the end. I thought you handled this kind of controversial topic, and presented it in a way that felt more about the music than the controversy, which I was a big fan of. Great post.
I to love the fact that country music has always been influenced by faith. Artist have always used the medium of music to express their faith, and will continue to do so, and I love that. Faith is a big part of being an American, and I would hate to see it forced out of the genre. It’s what makes the genre special, the artist are able to express how God has helped them through tough times. Not only that, they show how the Lord is always present in our life and how religion affects our culture. Some of my favorite faith based country songs are “I saw God today” by George Strait and “hold us together” by Cory Morrow.
Great post! I think it was truly remarkable you choose to write a subject on faith and how it plays into country music. You did a wonderful job on showing the two different points of view on believers vs non believers. Faith in God is is defintely a characteristic of the genre, and I think it’s inspiring to see artists like Carrie Underwood stand up for what she believes and her faith. Nice work on including the quote about her and the example. I enjoyed your list of three and thoughts those songs were perfect to what you were writing about, and helped tie together about country music and the role faith plays. Plus I was too like Max waiting for the “Jesus take the wheel”!
I loved the subject of this post! I love country music for many reasons but also because of the strong faith sung through most lyrics. We talk about in class how country music tells a story and I think many of those stories are about people finding Christ and their walk with Him. Carrie Underwood is not only an amazing singer but also a great example of a Christian. It is awesome that she is not afraid to show that in her music or anywhere else in her life. Country music can sometimes be like worship music just add in a a truck and a story, haha! Great post!
This is by far my favorite post that I have read so far! I love that you focused on faith in country music because sadly, you are so right about what people think of when they think of country songs. The songs you listed are also some of my absolute favorites!! I wrote my last paper on Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” and that line of the song really hits home! I also have a severe girl crush on Carrie Underwood (leg goals) and think she has the voice of an angel. Thank you for bringing up such an amazing aspect about country music!