Carrie Underwood – Jesus, Take the Wheel

American Country singer Carrie Underwood has a prestigious career.  Starting with her American Idol win in 2005, Underwood quickly became famous across the world.  She released eight albums, including:

• Some Hearts (2005)
• Carnival Ride (2007)
• Play On (2009)
• Blown Away (2012)
• Storyteller (2015)
• Cry Pretty (2018)
• My Gift (2020)
• My Savior (2021)

She’s also appeared on How I Met Your Mother, The Sound of Music Live!, and the hit film Sour Surfer.

Her awards are in the triple digits, easily the most decorated artists I’ve ever reviewed.  She was also inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, holds a Guinness record for Most Country No. 1s for a Female Artist in the U.S., sang at the 2010 Super Bowl, and earned a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 2018 for her work in entertainment.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Carrie-underwood-jesus-take-the-wheel-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Underwood tells a parable of sorts to make a point.  Her story is about a young, foolish, single mom.  She speeds through icy roads, distracted on her trek to see her parents for Christmas.  She slips on black ice, causing deep anxiety and fear.  Desperate, she calls out to Jesus for salvation.  He saves her!  In response, she sobs in surrender to Christ.

The car/road imagery represents the road to destruction.  Lacking faith, she attempted to handle life on her own.  The protagonist’s foolish decisions led her down the path of unrighteousness.  It got her in trouble.  Realizing the error of her ways, she gives her life to Jesus.  She yields to His will, grateful that He saved her.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

This song is 100% Biblical.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: Underwood begins by setting the stage for her metaphor.  It was Christmas Eve.  The roads were covered with snow.  A single mom drives home to spend time with her parents.  Underwood describes this woman’s parents as “mama” and “daddy”, indicating that she’s probably young.

Lines 5-7: The protagonist was literally low on fuel and figuratively short on trust.  She experienced a tough year that shook her faith, much John the Baptist when he was arrested (Matthew 11:3 and Luke 7:19).

Lines 8-11: The protagonist ignored sound advice by speeding in icy conditions (Proverbs 14:16).  This represents her focus on problems instead of fixing her eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).  This inevitably leads to destruction.

Side Note: Why is it that I remember the protagonist swerving from an oncoming truck?  It wasn’t in Underwood’s music video.  Must be another example of the Mandela effect!

Lines 12-15: Desperate and afraid, the protagonist takes a step of faith by…

[Chorus]

Lines 1-7: …surrendering completely to Jesus (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).  She asks God to save her from her unrighteousness that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-4: To her amazement, God saved the protagonist from impending doom.  She wept bitterly while her baby was unaware of what transpired.

Lines 5-10: The protagonist repents and trusts in Jesus (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15, Luke 24:47, Acts 2:36-38, Acts 3:19-21, Acts 20:21, and 2 Timothy 2:25-26).

[Outro]

Line 1: Casper the friendly ghost.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Underwood’s story is easily relatable to unbelievers.  While not many have lost control of their car as I had many years ago, her message of surrender to Christ is hard to miss.  The explicit mention of Jesus in the title and song, along with Verse 2’s statements of repentance, serves to bolster this view.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God, that surrendering to Him is the best course of action.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Carrie Underwood’s Jesus, Take the Wheel is excellent.  It teaches that life apart from Christ leads to unrighteousness, destroying us.  When we allow Jesus to control our lives, we find life and salvation.  This conclusion is easy for unbelievers to comprehend.

This song is inspirational, but not appropriate for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Jesus, Take the Wheel (listen to the song)

Artist: Carrie Underwood

Album: Some Hearts

Genre: Country

Release Year: 2005

Duration: 3:47

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