Country music isn’t all girls, beer, and trucks – just like Easter Sunday is more than big-eared bunnies, floral dresses, and baskets of brightly colored eggs. When the genre and the religious holiday collide, songs are alive with heart, faith, and storytelling.
As people collect the candy for Sunday’s Easter baskets and shop for the perfect shoes for their church outfits, some of country music’s most beloved stars have songs about the true meaning of the holiday.
“I know everybody loves to get all dressed up in their beautiful dresses, their hats, their fancy shoes and go to church and be with all your friends … and the kids all love getting out and hiding Easter eggs,” Dolly Parton said on social media. “The kingdom of Heaven is within. Somebody said the other day, ‘Oh, we’ve had a rough week’. Just think about the rough week that Jesus had and look at how well that turned out for us.”
Parton popularized the Don Francisco song “He’s Alive” in the late ’80s, and it became an Easter anthem. Here’s a look at that song as well as others by artists including Blake Shelton, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and Alabama.
Videos by American Songwriter
Dolly Parton, “He’s Alive”
Worship music favorite Don Francisco wrote “He’s Alive” and released it in 1977 on his ‘Forgiven’ album. However, Parton gave the lively hymn new legs when she remade it in 1989 for her White Limozeen album.
Parton performed “He’s Alive” on the 1989 CMA Awards to massive applause.
She said: “As Mama would say, I hope you get a blessing out of it.”
Alan Jackson, “He Lives”
Jackson made a name for himself with dancehall anthems like “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” and heartbreakers, including his first hit, “Wanted.” He bravely addressed current events with “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning), sang for his daddy in “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” and his daughters in “You’ll Always Be My Baby.”
But his gospel albums – Precious Memories and Precious Memories Volume II – are different. Jackson recorded his first gospel album as a Christmas gift for his mother. His second was for mothers all over the world.
“I had so many compliments from fans and even people who aren’t really country fans. It just overwhelmed me,” Jackson told The Boot. “People have told me — all over this country and even other parts of the world — how much they loved that album. It’s not just people older than me. I’ve seen young kids at my shows who have on the t-shirt that had the cover of that gospel album on it.”
Blake Shelton, “Savior’s Shadow”
Shelton released “Savior’s Shadow” on his 2016 album If I’m Honest at a particularly vulnerable time in his life. The song came to him in a dream in the spring of 2015, and he released it to Christian radio.
Lyrics include: “I’m standing in my savior’s shadow/ He is watching over me/ I feel the rain/ I hear the thunder as he cries for me.”
Shelton had heard songs in dreams before but never remembered them when the dream was over. This time, when he woke up, he grabbed his phone and sang the first verse into his voice memo. A few days later, the song popped into his head again, and he was confused by what it meant.
“I had kind of decided this song is saying that God feels so sorry for me that my life is such absolute crap that even he cries when he looks at me and thinks about me,” Shelton recalls. “That’s how sad I am.”
By the end of the summer, Shelton had shifted his thinking to believe that God was telling him he was journeying alongside him. Shelton finished the second verse with excitement and pride, and out of a sense of responsibility to the song. He passed it along to successful songwriting couple Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall to finish.
Alabama, “Because He Lives”
Alabama is one of country music’s most beloved bands. But the band also delved into the gospel space with albums including Alabama Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites, which features “Because He Lives” and Songs of Inspiration.
“For me, when I grew up playing music, I played music in church, and people were shouting and having a big time, and church wasn’t something where it was subdued,” Owen told The Christian Broadcast network. “If you played something, you brought it to church with you.”
Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote “Because He Lives” leading up to the birth of their third child in the late 1960s.
Randy Travis, “Three Wooden Crosses”
Kim Williams and Doug Johnson wrote “Three Wooden Crosses,” and Travis released the compelling story song in 2002. The song details a tragic bus accident in which three of four passengers were killed with a twist at the end that highlights God’s grace and plans. “Three Wooden Crosses” was Travis’ 16th and final No. 1 song. “Three Wooden Crosses” was the 2003 CMA Song of the Year.
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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