Ol' Church Hymn

Album: Carolyn's Boy (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Ol' Church Hymn" is a redemptive love song where Darius Rucker uses gospel language to show how much he adores his sweetheart. The singer testifies how he "saw the light" and was "born again" because of their romance. His lady is his rock and blessing as she soothes his soul "like an ol' church hymn."
  • "Ol' Church Hymn" is rooted in the deep-seated ties between country and gospel. Other Nashville artists that recorded songs where they use devotional terminology to show their love for their romantic partner include:

    Keith Urban on "God Whispered Your Name."

    Kane Brown on "Heaven" and "Worship You."

    Also, Maren Morris did the same on "My Church" to illustrate her love for music.
  • Family act Chapel Hart harmonizes with Rucker on the song. The Mississippi trio, comprising sisters Danica and Devynn Hart along with cousin Trea Swindle, first came to the country star's attention on the 2021 America's Got Talent series. Their audition performance of "You Can Have Him Jolene" blew away the host and four judges, earning the group a Golden Buzzer.

    Rucker watched their Golden Buzzer moment; he was recording "Ol' Church Hymn" at the time and visualized it becoming a duet once he'd heard their voices.

    "He said, 'I have this song and I think I hear you guys doing the harmonies, Y'all just take it and do Chapel Hart. I'd love to work with you,'" Swindle recalled during an interview at the Opry. "So we took it and Chapel Harted it right up, put down the vocals and sent it to the producer. We were waiting for the response and the producer just goes, 'Got it, thanks.'"
  • Chapel Hart advanced to the AGT finals where Rucker joined them for their cover of Bonnie Raitt's "Something To Talk About." They finished in fifth place.
  • Rucker wrote "Ol' Church Hymn" with Ben Hayslip (Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee," Luke Bryan's "I Don't Want This Night To End"), Josh Miller (Bebe Rexha's "Meant to Be," Florida Georgia Line's "Long Live") and Greylan James (Chris Young's "If That Ain't God," Kenny Chesney's "Happy Does").

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