Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Academy of Country MusicChris Young’s planning to drop his next single on Friday, and the new song, called “If That Ain’t God,” is a particularly poignant message for the times.
“It’s just a positive, uplifting message,” the singer tells People. “It’s talking about some of the things in life that you take for granted, whether it’s little stuff or big stuff, and you look around and you’re like, ‘Man, if that ain’t God, I don’t know what is.’”
The song begins with a story about a young boy beating cancer and going on to live a healthy life, complete with a spot on his local youth baseball team. The message of overcoming stark odds resonated in particular with Chris, whose father was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009.
“[He] lost a part of one of his lungs and came back and you’d never know it if you saw him today that he went through all that,” the singer recalls. “I’m still lucky to have my dad around…and not taking it for granted.”
“If That Ain’t God” will be the second song fans have heard from Chris recently that delves into heavier, more introspective subject matter. In 2019, he released “Drowning,” a heartbreaking meditation on the grief he experienced after losing a friend.
And though Chris is no stranger to fun-loving, uptempo party songs, the singer says his faith has always been a quietly important part of his artistry.
“I grew up singing in church, and my grandfather was an elder in the church I used to go to. Somebody would go up and with a pitch pipe and they would blow a note on a pitch pipe and everybody would sing in [an] eight-part harmony,” he remembers. “So that was something I picked up on really early on.”
By Carena Liptak
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I don't know why… but this song made its way to me this year and I might have to make it my next single. Thoughts? #IfThatAintGod pic.twitter.com/RSRbRwmdN9
— ChrisYoungMusic (@ChrisYoungMusic) June 9, 2020