When it comes to the family tree, country music has many branches. The roots are named after folks like Hank Williams and the Carter Family. Its trunk is the stuff of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, and Patsy Cline. And its branches are lush with myriad styles and sounds.
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But there are some core artists today that make up those sturdy, traditional-looking limbs that bear the essential fruit of music. And one of those is named after the Tennessee-born songwriter and performer Craig Morgan.
[RELATED: Craig Morgan Shares Studio Secrets About Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and More]
The true blue American artist, and current military man, croons about the essence of the heartland. He understands the people who drive their trucks, plow their crops, and mend their fences. He has the experience and the bona fides to prove it.
And perhaps evidence No. 1 is his hit song, “That’s What I Love About Sundays.”
Sunday Rituals
To live and work in the country often means hard work, but it also means a balance of family, football, and faith. This is the subject matter Morgan highlights in the song which he released first in 2004 ahead of his 2005 LP, My Kind of Livin’.
Coffee, newspapers, coupon cutting, the NFL, church, and his family and friends. The song recalls the hit track, “Easy (As Sunday Morning),” by the Commodores. Morgan’s song, which was his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, highlights the little things in life. It’s not about a billion dollars or private jets. No, for Morgan, it’s about the right meal for Sunday dinner.
Written by Adam Dorsey and Mark Narmore, the single, made history as the first independently distributed song to reach No. 1 on the country charts for multiple weeks.
The Lyrics
Morgan sings about what he loves and, in turn, we feel his joy. Many of his favorite things to do on Sunday are our favorites, too. On the song’s chorus, Morgan sings:
That’s what I love about Sunday
Sing along as the choir sways
Every verse of Amazing Grace
An’ then we shake the Preacher’s hand
Go home, into your blue jeans
Have some chicken an’ some baked beans
Pick a back yard football team
Not do much of anything
That’s what I love about Sunday
Recent Developments
Morgan, who recently re-enlisted in the army reserve, also re-recorded and re-released the song on his 2023 EP, Enlisted. On that record, which includes many of Morgan’s biggest hits re-done with big-name artists like Blake Shelton and Lainey Wilson, Morgan re-tracked “That’s What I Love About Sunday” with Rascal Flatts frontman Gary LeVox.
Of that collaboration, Morgan recently told American Songwriter, “‘That’s What I Love About Sunday,’ I knew Gary LeVox, we’ve been friends for a long time, and I knew that song—he had always loved that song. In fact, there were times that he told me he wished Rascal Flatts had recorded it before me. So, I called him, and he said yes.”
Check out the song below, about which—yes—there’s much to love.
Photo Credit: Nate Griffin/Courtesy of Monarch Publicity
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