"Get Right With God" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

. It was released in 2001 as the second single from her sixth album, ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' (2001). The song earned Williams the

Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Content

A review of the song from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated: "Lucinda Williams, an expert conjurer of Southern imagery, sees the light with the shuffling backwoods, revivalist stomp of 'Get Right With God'. Williams proclaims her need for a good soul cleansing, 'Cause I want to get right with God/Yes, you know you got to get right with God'. The last verse hints that this seemingly all-consuming search for redemption may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, Williams simply mining the colorful history and rich cultural imagery of the American South as she queries, 'I asked God about his plan/To save us all from Satan's slaughter/If I give up one of my lambs/Will you take me as one of your daughters?" Singer-songwriter

Joy Lynn White Joy Lynn White (born October 2, 1961) (also known as Joy White) is an American country music singer-songwriter. White was born in Bentonville, Arkansas but raised in Mishawaka, Indiana.

provided harmony backing vocals on the track.

Reception

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'' referred to "Get Right With God" as an "odd mock-gospel worksong", while ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'' wrote "By contrast, "Get Right With God" burns as hot as "Essence," though the hellfire here is spiritual rather than sexual. Even Williams attempts to distance herself as she instructs the musicians to "Get da-own!" (in a caricature of a

cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

accent), yet the intensity of the plain-spoken, guitar-driven prayer transcends parody. Sin and salvation aren't conceptual abstracts but palpably physical, and one is as likely to burn from the former as yearn for the latter." Country music website The Boot ranked the song No. 10 on their list of the best Lucinda Williams songs, describing it as a "deceptively low-key, country-flecked number", writing that it "seems like a rather self-explanatory song. The protagonist is willing to make sacrifices to 'get right with God' and go to heaven. The underlying message, however, is that this faith is less about deep-seated belief and more about surface action — which means the song can be read as a subtle criticism of modern religion."

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wrote that the song "inspired one of her most astounding vocal performances", and observed "Gospel music is a central, if under-discussed, inspiration for Williams. Here she makes the connection clear in a driving account of faith's relationship to audacity and risk."

Track listing

;CD single - US * Radio Remix - 3:38 * Radio Edit Without Intro - 3:00 * Album Version - 4:16 ;CD single - Europe * Radio Remix - 3:35 * Album Version - 4:16

Awards

References

External links

*, official audio (no music video) {{Authority control 2001 songs 2001 singles Lucinda Williams songs Songs written by Lucinda Williams Lost Highway Records singles Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance