The Story Behind the Song That Became Maren Morris’ Accidental First Hit Single

Maren Morris struck country gold when “My Church“, her debut single, was released in 2016. From her freshman Hero album, Morris wrote the song with Busbee, a gifted and well-known songwriter and producer who sadly passed away in 2019.

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The uptempo song says, “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.”

Now, Morris reveals on social media that the two planned on writing another song, instead accidentally penning what remains one of her biggest hits.

“We were at his home studio in LA,” Morris writes. “And I brought this idea of finding spirituality and connection through music and driving. Originally, the chorus was our bridge. Very quickly, we realized it was too infectious to not be our actual chorus. And so ‘Can I get a hallelujah‘ became the opus of our entire project. We kept the day of demo vocals for the final master because the soul we captured the morning we wrote it was so raw and moving and couldn’t be replicated. We wrote the entire song in 45 minutes.”

Maren Morris Evolves After Releasing ‘My Church”

Morris followed “My Church” with several more country hits, including “’80s Mercedes”, “Girl”, and more. In 2023, Morris told the Los Angeles Times that she was pivoting away from country music due to political views that made her uncomfortable.

“Allyship begins with waking up from something really comfortable,” she told the outlet. But Morris is still making music, and good music at that. In 2025, she released Dreamsicle, a more pop-leaning record that still feels authentically Morris.

“It is definitely an album that I think the me that moved here 12 years ago would be just in disbelief that I had the gall to make this,” Morris tells American Songwriter.

The Texan put creating Dreamsicle on hold for a bit while she focused on aspects of her personal life. But once she started creating, she realized she didn’t want to stop.

“I had so much to say,” Morris says. “So there were several musical things happening at different timelines going on. It’s all in the same head of mine.”

Morris is excited about he rnew musical chapter, which all began with “My Church” in 2016.

“I think it’s me settling into my 30s, my new independence, in a deep and light-hearted way,” Morris says. “It’s covering a lot of bases, because a lot has gone down in the last two-and-a-half, three years.”

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