Maren Morris joins Today’s Country Radio for an interview with Kelleigh Bannen to talk about creating her new album, ‘Humble Quest.’ Throughout the conversation, Maren reflects on writing especially autobiographical songs—including “Circles Around This Town”—as she confronts what it took to reach her place as one of country music’s biggest stars. Tune in and listen to the interview with Maren Morris in-full today at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET or anytime on-demand at apple.co/_TodaysCountry.
Maren Morris on Writing “Circles Around This Town”
I thought of the title, “Circles Around This Town,” the night before this co-write with Julia [Michaels], and I was on my porch with Ryan [Hurd]. I was like a couple drinks in and just thinking when I first got here, I was trying to write circles around this town, and then it just kind of clicked. “Oh, driving circles around this town, trying to write circles around this town.” So, that kind of double meaning felt very country and fun. And then, bringing it to three, I would say, very songwriter songwriters. They all were game. Anywho, it kind of all started coming out in the wash that it was gonna be a song about my story of getting to Nashville. As a country songwriter who has had a few albums under their belt, I felt like, is it kind of cornering me in a spot or pigeonholing me in a spot if I make this so particular to my story? Because there are so many details and colors in those lines that only I can relate to.
The Two Personal Lines Maren Morris Almost Didn’t Include in “Circles Around This Town”
I remember the two lines that I was on the fence about, because it was so self-referential, were the lines about “a couple hundred songs,” and “the ones that finally worked was the one about a car and the one about a church.” I was like, “Oh my God, is it just too much to go there?” But it’s like, “What the hell?” I mean, if you’ve followed my story thus far, you will know what I’m referencing. And even if you are confused about what those lines mean, you’re like, “Yeah, car and churches. Let’s do it!” But it felt super emotional to even put that in a song because it is so tied to the beginnings of my journey in this industry. So yeah, I’m glad we stuck to it.
Maren Morris on Including Her Struggles in “Circles Around This Town”
There are lines in there, too, that are vulnerable in a way, like where I’ve even done s*** that I’m not that happy about. Like I’ve been kind and I’ve been ruthless, I think that there’s a lot of that, especially with women in not just country music, but really in the music industry in general are pitted against one another, because there’s such a scarcity complex. There’s so many more men on the chart than there are us. And so you feel like you have to be ruthless to fight for your spot. And I think there’s healthy competition, which is great, but I definitely feel less fulfilled when I have that mindset. I feel like I had to learn that the hard way is just knowing sometimes you scrap your way to where you are. So that’s why I kept that in the chorus was because that’s like the real s*** is it isn’t all roses. Sometimes there have been like some really dark days where I’ve just had to like grin and bear it.
Maren Morris on the Struggles Women and Women of Color Face in Country Music
We’re talking about us feeling like the minority and it’s like, we’re white. And I think about the women of color in this genre that are trying to scrap it here too. Because it’s like I look at the men and they’re not competitive with each other the way that we’ve been bred to be. They’re all buddies on the bus after the show, which is great, whatever, but it’s honestly put on our shoulders to fight for the four spots that are available to us and I just wish that it were different so badly. But yeah, I guess I feel really fortunate that I’ve gotten to a level of my good standing with this genre where I feel like sometimes I say stuff that will rub people the wrong way or piss people off or feel like I’m targeting them, but it’s like, I have a good heart and I’m speaking the truth, even if it’s hard to hear, and I’m trying to help elbow more room in for other people as well.
Maren Morris on What Fans Can Expect from ‘Humble Quest’
I think the whole last two years was very humbling on the human race. So I wanted to peer into myself. And I’m obviously talking about things specifically to my life, like having my son and motherhood and the death of busbee. And there’s a lot of stuff in there that I’m tackling internally, but my intention with all of it, just from the get-go after we wrote “Circles [Around This Town],” actually, was to not steep in self pity. So I don’t feel like there’s any song on ‘Humble Quest’ that is woe is me. It’s all really optimistic, looks at very dark, real subjects. My hope is that if this album in listening to it in its entirety does a sliver to fans what it did for me writing it, I will be completely elated and satisfied with that.
