Craig Morgan’s new album, God, Family, Country, is out. The record includes the heart-wrenching single, “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost,” written about the loss of his son Jerry, who passed away in 2016, when Jerry was just 19 years old in a drowning accident. Although Craig has performed the song multiple times since it was released last year, that doesn’t make it any easier for the grieving father.
“It hurts. It’s the most difficult song I’ve ever written,” Craig admitted on the Bobby Bones Show. “I wrote this by myself. I say that. I tell people God wrote this song; He just used me and the pen and paper I had in my hand. I cried for four hours when I wrote this song. Still to this day, it’s very difficult for me to sing. But I do it because I know; I don’t just believe it now –– God has shown me and I know. I’ve seen the emails, I’ve seen the Facebook messages, the tweets, the Instagram posts, what this song has meant to other people.
“When it gets played by someone, and it becomes the most downloaded song of all genres …” he continued. “When we were on Fox & Friends, when we were on the Today Show, Kelly Clarkson –– every time we did that, every time we did an appearance, that song became the most downloaded song of all genres. You know when that happens, it’s impacting people’s lives. And that’s why I do it. That’s why I sing through the pain.”
Craig is currently off the road, along with almost every other artist, due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when he returns to performing, he will most likely include this song on his setlist, even though it is incredibly challenging for him to sing.
“It’s hard,” Craig conceded. “It’s really hard to sing that song, because you have to maintain your emotion and try to hold your emotions back in order to complete the song. I don’t always do it. I wish I could every time, but I don’t always. Sometimes I do manage to get through it, and it’s just at the end that I lose it. But every time I sing that song, I feel like I’ve run a marathon. It just takes so much energy.”
Craig will perform at the Grand Ole Opry this weekend, along with Steven Curtis Chapman and Kellie Pickler, for Grand Ole Opry Salute The Troops Memorial Day Weekend Special Find more information at Opry.com.
God, Family Country is available for purchase via Amazon
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Monarch Publicity / Nate Griffin