“Oh My God”: a divine masterpiece from Kevin Morby

Kevin Morby’s latest album (his fifth since 2013), Oh My God (2019), presents a masterpiece “non-religious religious” concept album, that is epic in ambition as it digs for explanations of what it means to be human and what it means to be spiritual. There is hardly a bad track on the album as it explores heartbreak, elation, love, shame, and final judgement.

The title track, “Oh My God,” opens the album with a simplicity characteristic of the entire album. Simple piano chords are played confidently and tenderly as Morby’s voice pleads to God, “Why won’t you release me?… Oh my Lord, come carry me home / Oh my God, oh my Lord, oh my God / Gotten too weak for this heavy load.” An angelic chorus offers bone-chilling harmonies that appear scattered throughout the album. The simple message of a man burdened by life and calling out for help seems timeless and universal.

Morby has played around with quasi-concept albums in the past, most notably with City Music (2017), inspired by the distinctly urban environment of New York City, which also influenced his solo debut, Harlem River (2013). By contrast, Oh My God does not come across as tied to any particular time or place, which is one of its greatest strengths. The multitude of good tracks on the album are not overstated, and grow in power as they resonate with you more on fifth and sixth listens.

“No Halo” builds on the first track, and persistent close-together clapping reminiscent of more traditional gospel like Mahalia Jackson accompanies piano, with dashes of flute and saxophone flourishes. There is an epic feel, as momentum builds towards the middle of the song, and Morby wails about how he is no angel, or has “no halo,” which he contrasts to the limitless joy he experienced as a boy before he contemplated good and evil.

Morby returns to human imperfection and our fallen state throughout the album. On “Nothing Sacred / All Things Wild,” Kevin sings in a low, soft, almost whispering voice about a “Bitter garden, bitter leaf / Bitter earth, bitter seed / Nothing here is sacred, dear / All things wild,” strongly evoking the lost Garden of Eden. A steady, primal drum beat, like that of a heart, pulses through the song, and the silky voiced chorus of women join him in one of two opposing choruses that paint wildness and sacredness as irreconcilable.

Elements of the opening track, “Oh My God,” and “Beautiful Strangers,” a 2016 single that lamented mass shootings like that at Pulse Nightclub, terrorist attacks on Paris, and police brutality and the deaths of unarmed black men, are combined to create “OMG Rock n Roll.” The song has an electric rock ‘n’ roll beat, as he asks “Oh my Lord, carry me home” if he dies too young. He sings “Love my sister, why all the coppers? / Up in their choppers, oh, flying over my head / 26, 49, 58 dead,” referring to the number of people killed in the Sutherland Springs, TX church shooting, the Pulse shooting, and the Las Vegas shooting at a country music festival. After the rapid-fire bombardment of tragedy, the end of the song contains a soothing chorus of angels calling out to God, asking for redemption, mercy, or shelter.

Of the remaining tracks, “Hail Mary,” “I Want to be Clean,” “Sing a Glad Song,” and “O Behold” are the most successful. In “Hail Mary,” a troubadour recounts the rises and falls of his family and friends, in a Dylan-esque way (“And Flannery became a dancer / And Ben got a baby girl / Fore’ Mama got sick with cancer”), using Hail Mary’s dual meaning as a prayer, and a last second, low-chance long pass, to convey his love for a girl.

Two lovers that have “ruined” each other plead for redemption in “I Want to Be Clean,” as a woman in a bar calls a friend and sings “I want to be clean / No I don’t want to be mean / Or break anybody’s heart.” Morby sings “Every flower, oh, has the power / to change a life of a man or a woman with its color,” and later calls the woman his “wildflower” who “holds the power / and you put our lives in danger.” As the pair proclaim their wish to become better, simple melodic instrumentation dominated by piano keys set a detached yet hopeful tone.

“Sing a Glad Song,” contains simple acoustic guitar and piano chord progressions, arranged very well, with noticeable subtle production polishing from Sam Cohen. The simple message accompanying the comforting, soothing sound is to sing “a glad song/ when you get to feeling so bad / Sing a glad song / And when you get to feeling so mad / Sing a glad song / And perhaps we’ll meet again, my friend / Above the weather.”

In the concluding, epic song, “O Behold,” Morby sings of heaven and hell, as piano, synth, and angelic background vocals create a haunting backdrop. As death approaches he tells his mother and father he loves them regardless of his fate. He laments a deep absence in his life, saying “O behold, the hole in my soul / Cannot be filled and it cannot be sewn up / And O behold the hole in my heart / Devil will come for us, try to tear us apart.”

The phrase “Oh My God” appears several times throughout the album, and Morby takes advantage of its multiple meanings, as an expression of surprise, disbelief, worship, awe, and disappointment. Likewise, the album Oh My God can be interpreted freely, and retain value to people of all levels of faith. Kevin Morby builds on his previous accomplishments, proving once again that he is a master songwriter. This is an album that will stick with you. 

Article by Jack Austin