Maren Morris Says Becoming a Mom Has Changed Her Perspective on ‘So Many Things’

Maren Morris welcomed son Hayes in March, just as the coronavirus pandemic was making its way to the United States. Those two events combined to shift the singer’s perspective on several topics, which she reflected on while speaking to Country Now last month. “Along with pandemic, becoming a new mother has changed my perspective on so many things,” she said.

“I feel like I take some things less seriously now, because it’s like, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff,’” she continued. “But then other things I take even more seriously now and have a laser focus on.” In October, Morris released her song “Better Than We Found It,” which was inspired by Hayes.

“I think the state of our country right now, the state of our world being at a standstill, us being forced to pause for the first time in a long time, it was just a time for me to write a song of reflection,” she said. “And to know that I want my son to look at me and my life and the way I conducted myself and my message and my music 30, 40 years from now when he’s got his own family and know that his mom made the best choice she could at a crazy time and wanted what was best for him and to leave the world that I found better for him.”

The song is a powerful call for change that encourages listeners to take the right path amid the country’s current turning point and was written by Morris, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz. In the music video, Hayes is shown sitting on a picnic blanket in a park with his mom as a voiceover from Morris reads a letter she wrote to her son.

“I don’t know how it got like this, but I will acknowledge my part in it. I have to do better. I will do better, for you. Our education must grow alongside our empathy,” she says. “Any time I get overwhelmed at the mess we’ve created, I try to see the world through your eyes. Negativity, fear and bitterness haven’t yet touched you. You are kind and curious. I want to rekindle that in me.”

The 30-year-old concluded her letter by promising Hayes that she will “step back to let you someday lead the way. I will, like you, never stop being kind and curious, and I will spend the rest of my waking days leaving this world, that you find so fascinating, better than I found it. Love, mom.”