The Personal Stories Behind Maren Morris’s Most Popular Songs

There are reasons why Maren Morris’s most popular songs are unforgettable. From love to heartbreak, her relatable music is not just catchy; it’s real. Aside from unpacking love in all its messy components, Morris’s lyrics also call out industry double standards and are inspirational on the listeners’ journey of self-discovery.   

In this article, we will explore the real-life stories and emotions that inspired Morris’s biggest hits.   

Morris’s breakthrough single, “My Church,” launched her major label career and secured her first Grammy win. During the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017, Morris won Best Country Solo Performance. In her acceptance speech, the Texas-born singer expressed gratitude for her team at Red Light Management, Columbia Records, and Big Yellow Dog. Of course, she didn’t forget to thank her mother and fans.   

The song describes Morris’s feeling when listening to the Highway FM radio while driving, which she compared to a church revival: “Can I get a hallelujah? / Can I get an amen? / Feels like the Holy Ghost runnin' through ya / When I play the Highway FM / I find my soul revival / Singin' every single verse / Yeah, I guess that's my church.”  

Morris described the track as “a song that changed my entire life,” and also performed it during Coachella with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and gospel choir.  

“Girl” began as a message to herself. Co-written with Greg Christian and Sarah Aarons, Morris described the song and the album of the same name as “self-reflective” and lyrics such as “I don't want to wear your crown” reject competition between women in the male-dominated country music industry, especially since she believes “There is room for everybody. Don't let the outside world make you think that you need to be so dog-eat-dog for these opportunities.”  

The chorus, which is not just self-reflective, also serves as encouragement for other female listeners: “Girl, won't you stop your cryin'? / I know that you're tryin' / Everything's gonna be okay / Baby girl, don't you hang your head low / Don't you lose your halo / Everyone's gonna be okay / Baby girl.”  

Morris named the track as a tongue-in-cheek response to male artists who use the word “girl” in their song titles, while actual women in the industry weren’t getting adequate airplay and recognition.  

Morris’s collaboration with Zedd, “The Middle,” represented a major turning point in her career. But the process wasn’t easy. In fact, the collaboration took over a year to complete, with at least eight collaborators and seven credited songwriters involved. Additionally, 14 prospective vocalists were considered with Zedd saying, “There were months where we almost gave up because nobody could sing it properly,” before choosing Morris.   

“The Middle” spent 40 weeks on the pop chart, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and earned multiple Grammy nominations. It also opened more doors for Morris, who went on to join Taylor Swift on the Reputation Stadium Tour.    

One of her major hits, “The Bones,” reflects Morris’s personal growth in understanding love and partnership. The lyrics show her mature perspective on what makes a relationship work: “When the bones are good, the rest don't matter / Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter / Let it rain 'cause you and I remain the same / When there ain't a crack in the foundation / Baby, I know any storm we're facing / Will blow right over while we stay put / The house don't fall when the bones are good.”  

A beautifully poetic way of saying that when love is built on something real, the little fights and tough days don’t stand a chance.  

The track peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020 and became the second most successful country song in the U.S. in the same year. It also surpassed Taylor Swift’s Billboard Hot Country Songs record of being the longest-leading No. 1 song ever by a solo female artist without additional featured artists at 11 consecutive weeks.  

Morris received three CMA trophies, thanks to “The Bones.” The song also achieved quadruple platinum certification by the RIAA and septuple platinum by Music Canada.  

Morris wrote “Circles Around This Town” during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she had time to reflect on her success and career. These epiphanies are evident in the lyrics, “I drove circles around this town / Tryin' to write circles around this town / Tryna say somethin' with meanin' / Somethin' worth singin' about / I've been kind and I've been ruthless / Yeah, I got here, but the truth is / Thought when I hit it, it'd all look different / But I still got the pedal down / Drivin' circles around this town.”  

She also references her earlier songs and longevity in the industry: “I'm around long enough to catch a break / A couple hundred songs and the ones that finally worked / Was the one about a car and the one about a church / That I wrote.”  

The lead track and first single from her 2022 album, Dream Quest, the song serves as an autobiographical reflection of Morris's journey as a Nashville songwriter. Aside from reeling from the pandemic, Morris also experienced other difficulties during the album’s creation, including struggling with postpartum depression following the birth of her first child and the death of longtime producer Michael Busbee.   

Morris's lyrics show that a willingness to be vulnerable and honest in her songwriting have positively impacted her work, especially since she stopped pressuring herself to be perfect and just focus on authenticity. Fans have welcomed the changes in her direction and she’s able to express herself more creatively without being boxed into one genre.