Crossing The Bridge with Maren Morris

Written by Taylor Gabrovic

Graphic by Rebekah Witt

Maren Morris, the Grammy-winning artist known for hits like “My Church,” “The Bones,” and her 2018 collaboration: “The Middle,” has released two new songs titled “The Tree” and “Get The Hell Out Of Here.” This duo is part of a release called The Bridge, which she says “honors where I’ve been but also feels like a forward step into the sun.” Also, on her Instagram, she said that while working on her next studio album tirelessly over the past year, she realized that these two songs “deserved a moment on their own” and were written a day apart. She describes the duo as “tender” and a way to “welcome, celebrate, and grieve the changes that have happened these last few years.” She told the Los Angeles Times that the two songs result from the experience of  “walking away from something that was really important to you and the betrayal that you felt very righteously. But also knowing there’s a thread of hope as you get to the other side…It’s about disarming that trauma and saying, ‘I can’t bail water out of this sinking ship anymore. It’s so futile. I choose happiness.’”Along with releasing these two songs, she has released two music videos that are thematically linked. 

When referring to the changes over the past few years, we can only assume Morris is, in part, referring to the incident with Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany Aldean, and all the events that have stemmed from it. In 2022, Morris and the Aldeans went head-to-head when Brittany Aldean posted a video of herself applying makeup with the caption: “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase,” to which her husband, Jason Aldean commented on the same post “Lmao!! Im glad they didn’t too, cause you and I wouldn’t have worked out.” Morris was not the first to respond to these controversial comments but rather Cassadee Pope (season three winner of “The Voice”) who tweeted: “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead, here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.” To which Morris replied, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.” This reply led to a wave of hate and comments by the Aldeans and some country music fans. Quickly, Brittany Aldean took her side of the story to Tucker Carlson’s former show on Fox News, where she commented, “I think that children should not be allowed to make these life-changing decisions at such a young age,” to which Carlson replied by calling Morris a “lunatic country music person” who he hopes would “leave country music immediately.” However, Morris quickly turned this insult on its side and began selling t-shirts, with 100% of proceeds going to GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program and Trans Lifeline. She has raised over $150,000; the t-shirts are still available on her website. She accepted GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award in May of 2023. The award annually recognizes one person in the media and entertainment industries who, through their work, has increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community. 

While speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 2022, Morris shared that she did not feel like she lost any fans throughout the controversy because she has been clear on her opinions since starting her career. “It sucks when artists stay quiet, stay quiet, stay quiet, and then they finally reach their breaking point and have to say something because something is so unjust or disgusting. And then they lose half their crowd because they stayed quiet…Let people know where you stand. The ones who don’t get it will fall away, but the ones that stick with you will know what they’re contributing to.” However, it was clear that some branches of country music sided with the Aldeans, which made Morris skip the red carpet at the 2022 Country Music Awards, where her album Humble Quest was nominated. While Morris worked with Marcus Mumford on a song for the television show “Daisy Jones and the Six” (‘Look At Us Now (Honeycomb,)”), she had not released any new solo music since 2022 until the release of The Bridge on September 15, 2023. 

When watching the two music videos, one should begin with “The Tree” and finish with “Get The Hell Out of Here.” The music video for “The Tree” opens with shots of a “cartoonish” small town and Morris lying on the grass singing the opening lyrics of the song: ‘I'm done fillin' a cup with a hole in the bottom. I'm takin' an axe to the tree. The rot at the roots is the root of the problem. But you wanna blame it on me.’ There is a visual of a welcome sign with the slogan: “Welcome to our perfect small town from sunrise to sundown” (which one could argue is an allusion to Jason Aldean’s controversial song: “Try That In A Small Town.”) She then begins wandering the streets of this idealized, retro Americana small town full of vintage cars, a water tower with a sign that says “fill the well,” and houses with signs in the front yard that feature slogans like “Don’t Tread On Me,” “Go Woke, Go Broke,” and “I Believe in God and Guns.” The slogan about being “woke” was one insult commonly found in Morris’ comment section after the Aldean incident. One can also see that the businesses in the town are going out of business, and there is not a single person besides Morris. There are also posters plastered on the side wall of one of the boarded-up businesses that feature Morris and say “lunatic country music person: Maren Morris” and “live and in person for one night only,” which is a sarcastic nod to her run-in with Tucker Carlson mentioned above. When she begins verse three, Morris can be seen trying to water the flowers surrounding a dead tree (in a white dress and heels), but all the water is leaking out of the watering can because of the hole in the bottom. However, while singing “Ooh, do you see that? It’s the light of a better day dawnin’. Ooh do you hear that? That’s the sound of a tree fallin’,” a strong wind begins blowing through the town, Morris lights a match, but without even throwing it, the dead tree from earlier in the video catches fire on its own. Morris told her fans this is because “it’s burning itself down without any of my help.” Morris then begins walking on a bridge, leaving the small town where the fire is spreading, which one can assume is a metaphor for Morris walking into her new musical era and leaving the past and country music behind. 

The second video, “Get The Hell Out Of Here,” picks up where “The Tree” left off, with Morris now in a black dress, singing on a hill overlooking the now burning town. Morris sings the lyrics, ‘Watered the garden but forgot to fill the well. I fed all my good intentions while I starved myself,’ which refers to the music video for “The Tree” and the visual of the water tower. Throughout the video, the point of view alternates between shots of Morris singing and various spots in the town, which are now melting, in flames, and turning to dust. The final visual for the music video is a flashback to the welcome town sign featured at the beginning of the video for “The Tree.” But, instead of the tree surrounded by blue skies like in the first video, it is now surrounded by dust and flames. When describing the song, Morris said, “This is the aftermath of the tree burning. Being quite literally burned out, this is a story of me feeling pulled in every direction, needing everyone else’s understanding and acceptance but my own and how self-destructive that ultimately became. I relinquish control of trying to change everyone’s mind or bad faith behavior and focus on my own power going forward. Doing the right thing can feel lonely at times, but there are more friends than foes, so I finally quit making myself one of them.”

Both songs feature Morris’ beautiful vocals and poignant lyrics, which she has become known for. “The Tree” is the more upbeat of the duo and has a familiar gospel sound, perfectly matching the song's themes and lyrics. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching but hopeful lyrics in “The Tree” are “I’ve hung around longer than anyone should. You’ve broken my heart more than anyone could. Tryin’ to stop me won’t do you no good. I’ve already planted the seeds.” Its counterpart, “Get The Hell Out Of Here,” is more stripped back and thus, at times, feels more raw. With lyrics like: “I believed all the love, I believed all the hate. So to sharin’ every part of me so I don’t disappear. Go on, get the hell out of here,” the song is one most people can relate to. The songs fit together beautifully like two sides of the same coin, and their release under the title of The Bridge shows Morris’ masterful artistic vision.

Based on the lyrics and visuals of these songs, it is apparent that Morris has been in an intense state of reflection about her role in country music and ultimately has decided to leave country music behind. In a new article with the Los Angeles Times, Morris shared that she is leaving the genre because “of what she views as the country music industry’s unwillingness to honestly reckon with its history of racism and misogyny and to open its gates to more women and queer people and people of color.” She also shared that, similar to the themes of the two music videos, she would love to burn the genre down and start over, “but it’s burning itself down without my help.” She has also decided to move from Columbia Records’ Nashville Division. Morris has been working with Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff for her next record, known for working with artists such as Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Lorde. This collaboration signals that this upcoming album could be very new and different from Morris’ previous releases. 

Fans of Morris’ responses to the release of The Bridge have been overwhelmingly filled with praise and support, with some users on TikTok leaving comments on Morris’ videos like “You were a gift to country - it is their loss. So thankful you are moving on.” and “Your fans will remain your fans. Regardless of the genre.” While some country music fans are shouting “good riddance,” it appears Morris was right when she said that her fans would stand by her because they know where she has stood since the beginning of her career. “The Tree” is also becoming a song championed by struggling teachers, who say it perfectly explains how it feels to teach in the United States today. 

Time will only tell if Morris’ decision to leave country music will be fruitful, but if these two songs are any indication, one can assume it will be.