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Maren Morris on Every Word of "My Church"

From the Holy Ghost to Johnny Cash, She Explains All to Genius.com

If there’s such a thing as a writing-while-driving law, I hope Maren Morris never gets arrested.

The country newcomer recently told Genius.com she likes to do some of her songwriting when she’s behind the wheel.

“I get a lot of my songwriting done while driving around Nashville -- sometimes it comes to me that way. I tried to write about that feeling, that connection,” she said of her breakout debut song, “My Church.”

A member of the 2016 class of CMT's Next Women of Country, Morris' video for the track recently premiered on the network.

In the Genius.com, she also explains some of the specific lines of the tune.

Such as, “I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling.”

“When I was touring in Texas, that was before iPods and Spotify. Driving around through towns I had to, out of necessity, scroll the radio,” she said. “Whatever region of the country you are in, that’s a great way to find out what they listen to. You find music wherever you are and that becomes the soundtrack for whatever your road trip is.”

And as for the part about Johnny Cash -- “And Cash leads the choir” -- Morris says she’d always been fascinated with the musical love story of Johnny and June.

“I grew up listening to their records. It was always being played through the house. Growing up with that kind of music inspired me to one day get to Nashville, to see where people like Cash made their success happen. Something’s in the water here," Morris said.

When she sings that listening to music in her car feels like the Holy Ghost running through you, Morris is remembering an inspiring drive she took in California.

"I was on a writing trip to L.A. and I didn’t have an idea for the next write. So I went driving around on the PCH and was really inspired by the beautiful surroundings and the music on the radio. I’m a huge country fan and am always inspired by classic country," she said, calling those "perfect road songs.”

Check out the annotations Morris provided for "My Church."

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