MAREN MORRIS DEBUTS “BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT” VIDEO DIRECT

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MAREN MORRIS DEBUTS “BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT”
VIDEO DIRECTED BY GABRIELLE WOODLAND OUT NOW

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aren Morris debuts a new song, “Better Than We Found It,” today—listen here and watch the video, directed by Gabrielle Woodland, here.

“I wanted to write something to address exactly how I feel right now, and this came together pretty quickly,” says Maren. “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. 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.”

The video features members of Maren’s Nashville community—a young man impacted by the Trump administration’s politicization of immigration and attacks on the DREAM Act; the family of Daniel Hambrick, who was murdered by Nashville police in 2018; and young organizers of a protest supporting Black Lives Matter—and ends with a letter Maren wrote to her infant son, Hayes.

“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.”

“Better Than We Found It” was written by Maren, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz and produced by Greg Kurstin.

If you don’t like it, then get the hell out
That’s what they yell when I open my mouth
A stick is a stick, a stone is a stone
But who’s gonna care if I don’t?
Who’s gonna change if I won’t?

When time turns this moment to dust
I just hope that I’m proud of the woman I was
When lines of tomorrow are drawn
Can I live with the side that I chose to be on?
Will we sit on our hands, do nothing about it?
Or will we leave this world better than we found it?

Over and under and above the law
My neighbor’s in danger, who does he call
when the wolf‘s at the door all covered in blue?
Shouldn’t we try something new?
We’re over a barrel and at the end of one too

America, America divided we fall
America, America God save us all
from ourselves and the hell that we built for our kids
America, America we’re better than this

When time turns this moment to dust
I just hope my son’s proud of the woman I was
When lines of tomorrow are drawn
Can I live with the side that I chose to be on?
Will we sit on our hands, do nothing about it?
Can we leave this world better than we found it?

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.

Maren, the 2020 ACM Awards Female Artist of the Year, released her record-shattering second album GIRL in 2019. In 2020, GIRL single “The Bones” has been certified triple Platinum and spent weeks atop radio charts. Maren is among the most-nominated artists at the 54th Annual CMA Awards with five nominations including nods for Single of the Year, Song of the Year (for “The Bones”) and Female Vocalist of the Year. She earned four nominations for the 2020 Billboard Music Awards—Top Country Artist, Top Country Female Artist, Top Country Album (GIRL) and Top Country Song (“The Bones”); and is nominated for a CMT Award for Female Video of the Year (“The Bones”).