Jesus, Take the Wheel
| "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | ||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Carrie Underwood | ||||||||||||||||
| from the album Some Hearts | ||||||||||||||||
| Released | October 3, 2005 (U.S.) | |||||||||||||||
| Format | Digital download | |||||||||||||||
| Genre | Country, Christian | |||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:46 | |||||||||||||||
| Label | Arista | |||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson, Brett James | |||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Mark Bright | |||||||||||||||
| Certification |
2× Platinum (RIAA) Gold (CRIA) | |||||||||||||||
| Carrie Underwood singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||
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"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in October 2005 as the first single from Underwood's debut album Some Hearts. The ballad tells of a woman seeking help from Jesus in an emergency, ultimately letting Jesus take control of her life.
The Country-Christian song became a crossover hit, spending six consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart and charting high on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" won Grammys for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song, and it won Single of the Year at the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards. The song ranked number four on CMT's 40 Greatest Songs of the Decade.
Content
The song tells the story of a young mother who lives a hectic life. On a late-night Christmas Eve drive on a snow-covered road on her way to Cincinnati, Ohio, the woman begins sorting out her emotions and bemoans not having enough time to do the things that really matter. Then, her car hits a patch of black ice, causing the woman to lose control of her car. She panics, takes her hands off the steering wheel and cries out to Jesus; shortly thereafter, the car stops spinning and safely stops on the shoulder. After taking stock of the situation (and seeing that her baby has remained fast asleep in the rear seat), the woman decides to let "Jesus take the wheel" of her life.
Performances
She first performed this at the 2005 Country Music Association Awards.
During the fifth season of American Idol, Underwood went back to the show to perform the song.
She again sang this song at the 41st annual Academy of Country Music Awards where this song won the Single of the Year Award.
On April 2006, she sang this on the CMT Awards where Jesus, Take The Wheel won 2 major awards, Breakthrough Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year.
During her Carrie Underwood Live: 2006 Tour, she performed this song with the other tracks on her debut album.
On December 11, 2006, Oprah Winfrey held an "iTunes" concert featuring Underwood, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, and Tony Bennett. Underwood performed "Jesus, Take the Wheel" there.
Music video
The music video features Underwood singing in various backgrounds such as, a living room, through shelves, standing by a wall, and sitting in a chair. A woman, a young couple, and an older couple are all shown through the video trying to ease a baby, fighting over bills and making up, and trying to feed his wife respectively.
The music video for it was originally slated for release on November 4, 2005 but was delayed and made available at a later date on Yahoo! Launch.
"Jesus, Take The Wheel" was nominated for Music Vide of the Year at the 2006 Country Music Association Awards and was ranked number 64 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos.[1]
Underwood has stated that her favorite part of the video is when the old woman puts her hand on her husband's.
Reception
The song debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and eventually spent six weeks as number one. That ties Underwood with several other female artists — including Kitty Wells, Faith Hill and Taylor Swift — in third-place for the longest-running number one song by a solo female artist; the record is jointly held by Connie Smith (1964's "Once a Day") and Swift (2012's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together").
It proved to be a crossover hit, eventually making it to number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and selling around 2,152,000 digital downloads.[2]
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" finished 4th on the 2006 Year-End Hot Country Songs Chart.
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA in April 2006.
On August 2008, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was reported to have been sold more than 1 million ringtones and was certified Platinum, making Underwood the first country artist ever to have two songs hit Platinum Mastertone status.[3]
Charts and certifications
Chart performanceAs of December 2014, it has sold 2,359,000 copies in the US.[4]
Certifications
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Awards and nominations
49th Grammy Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
| 2007 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Song of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
| 2007 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Best Country Song | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
12th Inspirational Country Music Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Inspirational Mainstream Country Song of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Inspirational Music Video of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
41st Academy of Country Music Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Single of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Song of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
2006 CMT Music Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Female Video of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Breakthrough Video of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Most Inspiring Video of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
2006 Canadian Country Music Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | SOCAN Song of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
2006 Gospel Music Association Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Country Recorded Song of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
2006 Nashville Songwriters Association International Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Song of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
2006 ASCAP Country Music Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Song of the Year | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
2006 Country Music Association Awards
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Music Video of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
| 2006 | "Jesus, Take the Wheel" | Single of the Year | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
Covers and parody
On April 17, 2007, American Idol season 6 contestant LaKisha Jones performed this song during the "Country" theme week, but received poor reviews from the judges. This marked the second time an American Idol winner's song was covered on the show with the first being Lisa Tucker on season 5 covering Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You".
On March 17, 2009, American Idol season 8 contestant Danny Gokey covered the song during the Grand Ole Opry week and received mostly positive reviews from the judges.
In April 2011, Vince Gill sang it during ACM Girls Night Out.[11]
On June 14, 2011, Jeff Jenkins performed the song on The Voice.
On March 28, 2012, American Idol season 11 contestant Hollie Cavanagh performed the song on the show during the "Personal Idol" theme week.
On April 30, 2013, Danielle Bradbery performed the song on The Voice.
Kristin Chenoweth released the song as a single in 2012 after performing it on the TV series GCB.
Comedian Tim Hawkins parodied it as "Cletus, Take the Reel."
Comedian Nick Offerman parodied the song in his comedy special Nick Offerman: American Ham, though the performance was "replaced" with a scene in which a lawyer representing Underwood and the three songwriters visits Offerman, asking him to not use the song in his special or face a lawsuit.
A parody reference also appeared in a cut scene in the 2014 Family Guy episode "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin." Here, Underwood asks Jesus, a recurring character on the show, to take control of the steering wheel, so she can fire a shotgun at a pursuing police car. Underwood does not voice her likeness in this scene.
References
- ↑ "100 Greatest Videos". Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ↑ http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-march-24-2013-songs-5-million-025825701.html
- ↑ http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/?pid=1398
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Matt Bjorke (December 17, 2014). "Country Music’s Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of December 17, 2014". Roughstock.
- ↑ "Carrie Underwood Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Carrie Underwood. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ↑ "Carrie Underwood Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Carrie Underwood. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ↑ "Carrie Underwood Album & Song Chart History - Christian Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ↑ "Carrie Underwood Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Carrie Underwood. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ↑ "Top Hip-Hop and R&B Songs & Singles Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
- ↑ Billboard Year End Charts "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ↑ Wilkening, Matthew (April 25, 2011). "Vince Gill Wins Carrie Underwood Over With ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ Cover During ‘ACM Girls Night Out’ Show". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
External links
| Preceded by "She Let Herself Go" by George Strait |
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single January 21-February 25, 2006 |
Succeeded by "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton |
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