We all have heard of the name Carrie Underwood, right? If you haven’t you are in for a real treat. She has won a total of seven Grammy Awards and other awards like Female Vocalist of the Year (Fancystatue). Her very first Grammy nomination was in 2006 at the 49th Grammy Awards. She won her first performance award that night for the hit song, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The song was a complete success! It spent six weeks on the top country music and won the title for Single Record of the Year (gayle-Thompson). “Jesus, Take the Wheel” used a great story with a powerful message along with emotion to capture the hearts of America.
“Jesus Take the Wheel” is a song that can connect with people on all levels. The song starts with a mom and her baby driving home, to Cincinnati to see her mom and dad. They were, “running low on faith and gasoline” (0:31). It had been a pretty rough year trying to raise the baby all by herself. Her mind was going crazy, not even paying attention to her driving or her speed before she could pay any attention. They started, ‘spinning on a thin black sheet of ice’ (0:44). She then realized that both she, and the baby could die at any moment. Suddenly she lets go of the steering wheel and says, “Jesus, take the wheel, take it from my hands. I can’t do this on my own” (1:02-1:12). She is putting her and her baby’s life into Jesus’s hands to save them. Soon after, the car came to a complete stop on the shoulder of the road. Then she gathered her strength, turned around and started crying once she saw her baby still sleeping in the back seat. For the first time in a long time, she started praying about how she is sorry for how she has been living her life and then decides to give her life to God from then on. To help her get her life on the right path again.
The music video towards the end of the song it shows three different scenarios. The first one starts with an old man feeding his sick wife. The man is feeling useless and not loved. The second one is a mom pacing in a house trying to soothe her crying baby, but nothing is working. The final scene is a young married couple arguing in the kitchen and then the husband yells, ‘get out!’ (Underwood) The wife then throws papers at the husband and continues to walk out of the room. While these are all being shown, Underwood is still singing. Still asking for another chance and for Jesus to help her in her life. The people do the same and let Jesus take control. The old women the places her hand on her husbands and starts to lean on his shoulder to show all her appreciation for him. The baby strikingly stops crying and begins to laugh alongside her mom. The young married couple finally back to the kitchen together to take everything out calmly (Underwood). By letting, as Underwood said, “Jesus take the wheel,’ he can help you with even the littlest things in your life.
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Underwood is trying to persuade you into giving your full trust into God even in the toughest times. She is using pathos to catch your attention and heart. The song uses a baby and mom almost dying to draw you in. Then the mom asked for another chance in life, which most people can relate to. She uses imagery when she sings, “spinning on a thin black sheet of ice,” which is terrifying to think about. When Underwood wants Jesus to take over and drive to save them, she is using figurative language. Jesus cannot physically start driving for you but he can give you the mental and physical strength to do it yourself. By putting these rhetorical appeals into this song especially emotion makes it incredibly powerful.
Her words are credible because of who she is. Underwood is a celebrity, and many people know her or at least know of her. She is in the spotlight a lot whether it is for tours, music awards, or her family life. Many people love her, she has a great reputation, so we have no reason to not believe what she is singing or saying. Ethos is in action by maybe she isn’t exactly the women she is talking about in the song, but that doesn’t mean she can’t relate. She could have had a time in her life where she needed help to get on the right path again. Or even she could have been close to someone that this has happened to. Underwood has many facts behind her that make her credible and with her singing, ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ just makes the song even more persuading.
“Jesus, Take the Wheel” could be aimed towards almost anyone in any situation. Teenagers, married couples, single parents, a person who is lonely, etc. It just helps you open your eyes and see that there is hope for you in your life. Especially with young ladies, teenage years are pretty rough, between boys, looks, and popularity it could make them feel worthless or ugly. Any eye-opener even as small as a song, could make all the difference in someone’s life to help them get on the right path again.
‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ is a very effective song, but I do not believe that it is persuading many of its intended audience members to give their full trust into God. This song is more of an eye opener and people clinging onto hope rather that it is persuading. The song catches your attention with the baby and then with the visuals of the old man and women along with the married couple, you can’t help but want to listen. The powerful message is that everyone comes to a breaking point in their lives and it is okay to stop and ask God for a second chance to get things right. ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ has been listened to over 50,000,000 times so I’d say this song has captured the hearts of America pretty well (Underwood).
Works Cited
- Fancystatue. “Carrie Underwood.” GRAMMY.com, 2 Aug. 2018, www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/carrie-underwood.
gayle-thompson. “13 Years Ago: Carrie Underwood’s ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ Is Released.” The Boot, 18 Oct. 2018, theboot.com/carrie-underwood-releases-jesus-take-the-wheel/. - Underwood, Carrie. “Carrie Underwood – Jesus, Take The Wheel (VIDEO).” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Mar. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU.
