Joe Nichols is not afraid to take a stand for Jesus! In fact, the country singer would rather “die a bloody death” than compromise on his faith, even when it comes to his music.
During a chat with Dillon Weldon on the Drifting Cowboy podcast, Nichols offered up a story about how years ago his record label requested that he change the lyrics to one of his songs before they released it.
Since the lyrics were about Jesus Christ, he refused to do it. As a result, the label scrapped the song altogether.
What Song Did Joe Nichols’ Label Reject Because of Its Religious Lyrics?
“Matter of fact, we had a song called ‘We All Carry Something.’ I was on Red Bow at the time,” he says, jumping in to the story.
“It’s a brilliant song and it’s a beautiful vocal,” he explains.
“These verses are very powerful. We talk about a baby that was born addicted to alcohol because of the mama and a boy that grew up in a trailer park and, you know, kind of got roughed up by his pops. Just heart-wrenching story after story. And the message is we all carry something. We’re all carrying some stuff.”
“And the last payoff verse was about Jesus,” he shares. “He carried that cross through those city streets for us. We all carry something, He carried it all.”
The final verse is what caused a problem.
“One of the leaders at the label said, ‘We need a lyric change on this song and then we can potentially put this out as a single,’ and they suggested something a little more generic,” he recounts.
Nichols stuck to his guns, saying the song would not be changed. That’s when the label put the song on the shelf.
Did Joe Nichols Ever Release “We All Carry Something”?
The stalemate wouldn’t last forever. Although he didn’t specify when the battle of lyrics began, the song “We All Carry Something” was eventually released on his 2017 Never Gets Old album.
Does Joe Nichols Sing About Jesus in His Music?
Being asked to tiptoe around his faith is something Nichols has experienced more than once. Just before sharing the story of “We All Carry Something,” the country hitmaker noted there was some pushback with his Revelation album in 2004.
The project came out of grief following the death of his father.
“When he passed away it sent me into a really bad depression,” Nichols shares. “That whole Revelation album you can hear it. Every song on there is pretty heavy. There’s a lot of God on that album. And Jesus in ‘Revelation’ that’s the big payoff line in that. ‘And there stood Jesus Christ in all His glory.'”
“That’s kind of a no-no sometimes,” he points out. “You know, when you put Jesus in a song, you’re taking a little bit of a chance. Some people in, you know, positions at record labels, they’re like this would be great if you just took Jesus out of that.”
“I’m very proud to say that I’ve been approached many times with that and every single time I have said, ‘I would rather die a bloody death than do something like that,'” he adds.
Taking a firm stance on putting Jesus in his music is something Nichols will never change. It’s something he hopes to pass on to his kids and their kids.
“But it’s moments like that that I’ll tell my kids and grandkids and hopefully my great-great-grandkids, don’t ever lose that. Don’t ever lose that compass.”
11 Country Stars Who Speak Out About Their Faith
When it comes to country music, you don’t have to search for too hard to find songs that bring Jesus in.
Country stars tend to be bold in speaking out about their faith and the struggles they’ve had trying to walk that straight and narrow path to find God.
It’s also no surprise that many of fans’ favorite artists have either released Christian-leaning songs or have collaborated with gospel-singing neighbors.
We’ve rounded up several country singers who have unapologetically spoken to their faith for the world to see and who spread the Gospel, one song at a time.
Gallery Credit: Jess Rose
