Maren Morris is making a stand for her personal beliefs with a new protest song and video, “Better Than We Found It.”
Along with a solo acoustic performance in a chapel, the video features diverse members of the Nashville community: a young man impacted by the Trump administration’s handling of the DREAM Act; the family of Daniel Hambrick, who was shot and killed by Nashville police in 2018; and young organizers of a protest supporting Black Lives Matter. The video ends with Morris reading a letter to her son, Hayes, born in March.
In a statement, Morris says, “I wanted to write something to address exactly how I feel right now, and this came together pretty quickly. It’s a protest song — it’s the most American thing to protest and protest songs have been so embedded in American culture: Bob Dylan, Nina Simone.”
She continues, “I think the world right now is sort of in a perpetual mourning period and I wanted to have a song that had weight but also had hope. I still have hope for this country and for the future of it, and as a new mother I wanted to promise my son that I’m going to do everything in my power to leave this world better than the one I came into and the one I see right now.”
Morris co-wrote the song with Jessie Jo Dillon, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz; Greg Kurstin produced the track. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.
“I think Maren says it best in her letter to Hayes when she states, ‘Our education must grow along side our empathy,’” says director Gabrielle Woodland. “In present day America, we’re constantly told what to think about certain people, their lifestyles and situations that might be ‘different’ than the average American experience. For this video, Maren wanted to break down the barriers that separate us and remind everyone that, at the end of the day, we are all the same. We are all human and we need to take a lot more time to listen and understand each other. The political climate we live in right now doesn’t give a lot of room for people to converse, and it’s so easy look at our world in black and white. Maren and I both thought it was important to highlight real stories happening to actual people.”
