INTERVIEW: Maren Morris On Her New Song '80s Mercedes' | Music You Should Know
By Nicole Mastrogiannis
August 12, 2016
We first fell in love with Maren Morris thanks to her single "My Church," and now, after releasing her debut major label studio album on June 3rd via Columbia Nashville titled Hero (which also happened to be the same week she began a national tour with Keith Urban), we have ten more new songs from the rising star to blast on repeat for the rest of the summer -- including her latest single "80s Mercedes." Hero proved to be a monumental success by reaching #1 on the US Country chart and #5 on the US Billboard 200 chart. "80s Mercedes" is the second single to be released from Hero and as of the the end of June, became the most added song at Country radio. It's easy to see why; the song's fun lyrics make it the perfect song to listen to on a Saturday night when you're ready to hit the town. Maren co-wrote the track with famous San Francisco music producer Busbee. We recently caught up with Maren, and she told us all about "80s Mercedes" during an exclusive interview.
Maren tells us that "80s Mercedes" originated from a conversation she had with a friend of hers. She explains that her friend had been dating a guy who had an awesome 80s Mercedes, and thought that would make a great song title. And when she wrote the song, she really intended for it to be a fun song to play on a weekend night.
On the meaning behind the lyrics for "80s Mercedes"
"The meaning behind '80s Mercedes,' really it came out of a conversation with a girlfriend of mine. She was talking about this guy she was dating that had this amazing car, an 80s Mercedes, and I laughed and immediately wrote it down because I thought it would be an amazing title. I just wanted it to be sort of the Saturday night version of what Sunday morning was for 'My Church.' It's sort of the party version of being in the car and feeling something really special, and another connection to music."
Coincidentally, there are similarities in the lyrics to both "80s Mercedes" and her first single "My Church." Both make references to driving around in a car. For example, in "My Church," Maren sings, "But I find holy redemption/When I put this car in drive/Roll the windows down and turn up the dial," while "80s Mercedes" is all about a car (hence the song title), and she sings lyrics like "Feel like a hard-to-get starlet when I'm driving" and of course, "I'm a 90s baby in my 80s Mercedes." Well, both songs were written in the same week, and Maren says she must have been "in a car driving mood that week."
On the writing process for "80s Mercedes"
"The writing process for '80s Mercedes' was actually really similar to 'My Church's' writing process. It was really quick. I actually wrote '80s Mercedes' the same week as 'My Church.' I guess I was in a car driving mood that week during writing, but, it was so fun to throw out all these 80s and 90s references. I wanted to sort of capture that feeling of being in the car with the windows down, but also a really flashy, sort of glitter on the seats, neon soul. I wanted it to feel really colorful, so we used a lot of different imagery throughout the song that encapsulated that Saturday night feeling."
Mission accomplished. "80s Mercedes" definitely captures the "Saturday night feeling," and so does the song's music video. The visual for "80s Mercedes," directed by Alon Isocianu (who has directed music videos for artists like Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, and more), sees Maren driving out on the open road and through a lit-up big city at night in her 80s Mercedes -- rocking a white leather jacket of course.
And in case you were wondering, yes, an 80s Mercedes has always been Maren's dream car. She may have been born in 1990, but a movie released ten years prior made the retro car special to her. The 26-year-old rising country star tells us that 1980's American Gigolo starring Richard Gere made the 80s Mercedes so iconic.
On the 80s Mercedes being her dream car
"I think an 80s Mercedes has always been my dream car because I just remember this really picturesque scene in 'American Gigolo' with Richard Gere. I think it came out before I was born, but I remember watching it at a young age and that opening scene with him in this convertible, white, 80s Mercedes was iconic. And it's not this suped up flashy car. I like the fact that it's sort of simple, and throwback, and I feel like it just matches my personality so well. So that's kind of what makes an 80s Mercedes special to me."
"80S MERCEDES" FUN FACT: Maren's favorite lyrics from "80s Mercedes" include: "glitter on the seats" because she's a "fan of glitter." And also, "She's my teenage time machine" because she feels like the lyric "captured the feeling you get when you're in a nostalgic place, or in this case a car."