The Meaning Behind Maren Morris’ ‘My Church’

Before having success as a singer, Maren Morris primarily worked as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. The country artist made her major label debut in 2016 with the album Hero and its lead single “My Church.” Here’s a breakdown of the meaning behind Morris’ breakthrough song “My Church.”

Maren Morris released ‘My Church’ in 2016

“My Church” was released in January 2016 as the lead single to Morris’ major label debut album Hero, which dropped in June 2016. Morris went on to win Best Country Solo Performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards for the song.

With “My Church,” Morris does not use “church” in the literal sense and instead uses it to describe the peace and refuge she feels when she is able to sing along to music in her car.

In “My Church,” Morris sings:

“Can I get a hallelujah/ Can I get an amen/ Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya/ When I play the highway FM/ I find my soul revival/ Singing every single verse/ Yeah I guess that’s my church.”

‘My Church’ helped change Maren Morris’ life

In a 2016 interview with NPR, Morris revealed that she thinks “My Church” is one of the most important songs in her discography.

“‘My Church.’ That was really the tipping point for me going from songwriter to artist. Because the second that song was done and we were listening back to it, the first thought in my mind was, wow, they were right, and I’m not sending this to anybody,” Morris shared.

During the interview with NPR, Morris admitted that the single “changed” her life in terms of her career.

“I started to picture myself singing it on an awards show, and I never did that. It was just, like, a pipe dream. But with that song, it all changed, and I feel like it’s paid off,” she said.

Morris continued, “I mean, we’re a few months into it being on, you know, national radio, but I just did a country music festival called C2C in the U.K. It was very emotional because we had a two-song acoustic set in the middle of the arena, and it was sold out. So it was 20,000 people. And you only have two songs to win them over. But I got up there and I sang my two songs, and I ended on ‘My Church.'”

What inspired the singer to write ‘My Church’

In an interview with GRAMMY.com, Morris revealed the inspiration behind the song “My Church.” While the singer is based in Nashville, it was driving in Santa Monica, California that inspired the song.

“I started driving in Santa Monica, and once I saw the ocean, you know, Nashville where I live now is very landlocked. So to see the ocean was just a huge moment for me that day. A great song came on the radio, I saw the ocean, I had the PCH open road in front of me. And I felt just really touched by that moment,” Morris told GRAMMY.com.