I didn’t expect to write a country song about the Bible verse Micah 6:8 when planning this record, but sometimes your muse has other plans for you. Old Religion is about refusing to allow the faith that raised me to be bastardized by the American right. Their warped, demented, distorted version of Christianity is the furthest thing from who Christ was and how he lived. The rise of Christian nationalism here and abroad should sound an alarm for people of conscience who still find something of value in the way of Jesus. We cannot let fascists and fanatics use that name to influence people while completely ignoring everything he stood for.
Lyrics
Play me some of that old religion
I wanna do justly
And see everyone succeed
Love my neighbor like I love myself
And that’s a lot of love indeed
Pursuing happiness
That good life and liberty
When justice rolls like a river
We’ll know everybody’s free
I wanna love mercy
Yeah, I wanna lay it on real thick
There’s so much fear and judgment
We need some mercy double quick
Let’s spread that righteous, real
Compassion countrywide
In a world that can be so unkind
Let mercy be my guide
A little ancient wisdom in the here and now
Some of that old religion not obsessed with power
Give me that good tradition where the meek are blessed
The prison gates swing open and the weary find their rest
I wanna walk humbly
With the God who speaks to me
There will never be a single faith
Where everyone agrees
I sure don’t know it all
But I reckon that’s alright
I don’t need every answer
Just a simple guiding light
A little ancient wisdom in the here and now
Some of that old religion not obsessed with power
Give me that good tradition where the meek are blessed
The prison gates swing open and the weary find their rest
Now sadly some will use your faith to build a fear machine
They’ll try to start a holy war, even though there’s no such thing
Those power hungry men will call you wimpy, weak, and woke
But the humble, just, and merciful are the strongest that I know
A little ancient wisdom in the here and now
Some of that old religion not obsessed with power
Give me that good tradition where the meek are blessed
The prison gates swing open and the weary find their rest
A little ancient wisdom in the here and now
Some of that old religion not obsessed with power
Give me that good tradition where the meek are blessed
The prison gates swing open and the weary find their rest
The prison gates swing open and the weary find their rest
Let’s swing those prison gates wide open, let the weary find their rest