God's Country

"God's Country" is a song by American country music singer Blake Shelton. It was written by Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, and Hardy. The song has been described as a southern rock anthem. Dawson stated that he and his fellows wrote the song on a Thursday, and that "Blake heard it, and by Monday he had recorded it." Shelton first heard the song while working on his farm in Oklahoma, and was blown away by the song. He related "I had to stop and just listen to this song, because the song was talking to me about a place that I was in at that moment, which was a place in the middle of nowhere that meant something to me that probably nobody else could ever understand, what that is and what it is inside of me and what my connection is to the land." He recalled thinking "'I've gotta record this song,' and I think I even decided before I even recorded it, 'This has got to be the song that I put out next.'" Shelton has stated that "'God's Country' is a song that has a strong and deep meaningful lyric, but at the same time it leaves it up to the listeners’ interpretation." He went on to state that "But no matter where you are from or where you're standing it is my belief that you're standing in God's Country. It's really about a state of mind. Wherever you're from and how you feel about that place. For me, it's about being from Oklahoma – where I was born, raised and still live today." "God's Country" was the best-selling country songs on its first full week of sales, with 32,000 sold. Shelton performed the song at the 2019 ACM Awards the following week on April 7, which helped to keep sales up at 31,000 that week. It reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart dated May 25, 2019, his 14th on the chart and his first since 2013. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on June 27, 2019, and Platinum on July 31, 2019. It has sold 423,000 copies in the United States as of September 2019. The music video was directed by Sophie Muller, and shot over the course of four days in and around Tishomingo, Oklahoma. It depicts Shelton singing and working on a modern farm, interspersed with historical footage of the Dust Bowl, storms, beautiful nature shots, and traditional rural and farm imagery, concluding with a burning tractor. The video is intended to convey the intensity of farm life, while juxtaposing the "good, beautiful things of God's country, and also the wrath of God."

[Verse 1] Right outside of this one church town There's a gold dirt road to a whole lot of nothin' Got a deed to the land, but it ain't my ground This is God's country We pray for rain, and thank Him when it's fallen 'Cause it brings the grain and a little bit of money We put it back in the plate I guess that's why they call it God's country [Chorus] I saw the light in a sunrise Sittin' back in a 40 on the muddy riverside Gettin' baptized in holy water and 'shine with the dogs runnin' Saved by the sound of the been found Dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you Heaven bound The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn't stick around This is God's country [Verse 2] We turn the dirt and work until the week's done We take a break and break bread on Sunday Then do it all again 'Cause we're proud to be from God's country (Yeah) [Chorus] I saw the light in a sunrise Sittin' back in a 40 on the muddy riverside Gettin' baptized in holy water and 'shine with the dogs runnin' Saved by the sound of the been found Dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you Heaven bound The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn't stick around This is God's country [Interlude] (This is God's country) God's country [Bridge] I don't care what my headstone reads Or what kind of pinewood box I end up in When it's my time, lay me six feet deep In God's country (Yeah) [Chorus] I saw the light in a sunrise Sittin' back in a 40 on the muddy riverside Gettin' baptized in holy water and 'shine with the dogs runnin' Saved by the sound of the been found Dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you Heaven bound The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn't stick around This is God's country (God's country, I saw the light) Yeah, I saw the light in a sunrise Sittin' back in a 40 on the muddy riverside Gettin' baptized in holy water and 'shine with the dogs runnin' (Yeah) Saved by the sound of the been found Dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you Heaven bound The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn't stick around This is God's country