Maren Morris closes her 2025 album, Dreamsicle, with “Holy Smoke”. The Jack Antonoff-produced song deals with relationships on a much larger scale. It confronts a rigid worldview and finds the singer losing her religion against the pain caused by blind confidence and tradition.
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This isn’t the subject matter one typically finds from a country singer. But if you’ve ever witnessed a Maren Morris concert, you’ll notice hers isn’t a voice you can box up in a single genre or music institution.
Humans are complex, and the complexity lies in differences. “Holy Smoke” will challenge some. But isn’t that the point of questions?
About “Holy Smoke”
Not shy to speak her mind, Morris has absorbed a lot of blowback from the country music industry, which has a long history of being reflexively parochial. If this weren’t true, there’d be no reason to describe Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, or Kris Kristofferson as outlaws.
“I feel like the sort of deconstructionist mentality has been [with] me since like 8 years old,” she told Variety. While others call her “defiant”, Morris says it’s “not rebelling to rebel, but just to find the truth, and always remaining curious.”
“There’s beauty in the questions that I still can’t answer now
But the world got less depressing when I finally left the house
Wasn’t locked out of heaven, I just had to look around
Doesn’t mean I still don’t have my doubts.”
Morris said she’s fascinated by how certainty leads to a lack of curiosity. Dogmas exist in many forms—religious, political, cultural, etc. But inquiry remains a useful tool to get at something like the truth.
Humans are naturally curious animals. Think of how many questions a child asks. Then think of how many times they are told to keep quiet by a certain age. It takes a lot of work to hang on to curiosity. Light is a great revealer. But someone along the way had to kindle the fire.
“By lightning strike or flood below
By our own damn hands or a righteous ghost
You can pray your way up to the gates
To find out it’s a joke
But either way, it’s going up in holy smoke.”
The Age of Reason
Maren Morris describes “Holy Smoke” as “kind of my ‘losing my religion’ song.” However, the track sounds like something stirring. The free-thinking lyric feels spiritual in its own way and echoes the song’s theme.
Music is an art form that’s as tactile as it is emotional. You’ll find math in the scales and intervals. And producers and engineers have those titles for good reason. But the ghost-in-the-room vibe is real, too. It’s mysterious. And songwriters and performers share the scientist’s plight. Midway through the track, Morris belts wordless notes. It’s raw, humble, a kind of letting go.
You can’t reach discovery unless you start digging. It helps to be open to receiving the information when excavating a thought, chord sequence, or arrangement. Harlan Howard’s famous quote, “Country music is three chords and the truth,” is no good without the truth bit.
“Holy Smoke” may end up meaning different things to different listeners. For some, it’s questioning the existence of the supernatural. Others might interpret the song as a critique of how humans have used religion against others in a struggle for power.
“Either way, it’s going up in holy smoke.”
Photo by Andy Barron/Sacks & Co.
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