He Gets That From Me
Click here to go to the lyrics for He Gets That From Me
| In Reba McEntire's song, He Gets That From Me, there is a different view taken on religion. Here there is no explicit mention of any religious connections, most likely because Reba McEntire does not relate herself to be religious. She defines herself as a spiritual person, as is explained in the quote on the image below the video. None the less, I still do find a connection between faith and death in this song, although it is not a connection with a death that has occurred during the course of the song. This death had happened before, and the audience learns of the death through the resemblances between her son and her deceased husband.
While listening to the song, the audience can tell that there is no set chorus to this song, but we can still relate it to Grossman's theory on religious country songs. The beginning of the song sets the scene, a mother and her son and the typical problems that any mother would have with a pre-teen child. the middle elaborates on what is going on and the audience learns that the father is no longer present in the family through the line: "He's got me in the palm of his hand/and I swear sometimes/it's like you're here again." This leads the listener to wonder if there has been a divorce and she is not past it, or if there is something more there. In the final verse, we hear the mention of prayers and speaking to God, asking him to pass along a message. In the music video, we also see the mother and her son in a graveyard, once again agreeing with the idea of the last verse being in a religious space. This is where the audience learns about the passing of the father, in the lines: |
"Last night I heard him pray/Lord, help me and
Mama make it through/and tell Daddy we'll be
ok/He said he sure misses you"
These lines give a clear indication of the passing of the father, but also of the relationship she and her son have with God, and the knowledge that he is still watching over them. This can be related to the belief in salvation that is present in the Southern Protestant religion where we see that this man seems to come from a family that led a good faithful life, and in return, his family believes that he was granted salvation .
Overall I believe that the link between faith (not only the deceased's faith in this case but also his family) and death is clear. The link between these two shows a belief in the salvation of the people who have been lost and the thought that they are still watching over us from a rewarding afterlife.
Mama make it through/and tell Daddy we'll be
ok/He said he sure misses you"
These lines give a clear indication of the passing of the father, but also of the relationship she and her son have with God, and the knowledge that he is still watching over them. This can be related to the belief in salvation that is present in the Southern Protestant religion where we see that this man seems to come from a family that led a good faithful life, and in return, his family believes that he was granted salvation .
Overall I believe that the link between faith (not only the deceased's faith in this case but also his family) and death is clear. The link between these two shows a belief in the salvation of the people who have been lost and the thought that they are still watching over us from a rewarding afterlife.