This reflection on a robust relationship finds Maren Morris telling a story of a long-lasting partnership where the couple have been through many storms together.
When the bones are good, the rest don't matter
Yeah, the paint could peel
The glass could shatter
Let it rain
You and I remain the same
The house don't fall when the bones are good
Morris wrote it soon after getting engaged to the singer Ryan Hurd. "It felt like a vow," she said of the song.
Morris and Hurd were married by the time the song was released on the Girl album in 2019, but their union didn't last. They split in 2023, citing irreconcilable differences.
Morris co-wrote the song with Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins. The same writing trio also penned her hit single "
I Could Use a Love Song ."
The song's music video, filmed in grainy throwback style, was directed by Alex Ferrari. The filmmaker is best known for his 2005 short movie Broken.
The clip follows Morris and her husband, Ryan Hurd, during their vacation in Hawaii in June 2019. We see them exploring the Hana Highway, a 64-mile-long (103.6 km) stretch of road that runs through a lush, tropical rain forest. "The Road to Hana is beautiful but a hell of a trek... kind of like the most meaningful and lasting human relationships we get to have," Morris wrote on Twitter. "This is our journey on film for 'The Bones.'"
It was Laura Veltz who suggested the song title during Morris' songwriting session with her and Jimmy Robbins. The three started talking about their solid relationships with their partners - Veltz and Robbins with their spouses and Morris with her then-fiancé, Ryan Hurd.
Baby, I know any storm we're facing
Will blow right over while we stay put
The house don't fall when the bones are goodInspired by their conversation about their rock-solid relationships, the trio wrote this song. Morris explained to
Pop Culture the song is "about the bones of a house – even if a hurricane comes, a storm, the wolves come, the structure of the house is still standing. The foundation is still there, so you can rip it down to the studs and the foundation of this relationship isn't going anywhere."
Maren Morris teamed up with the Irish rock singer Hozier for a remix of "The Bones." The new version stays true to the original arrangement, with Morris handling the first verse solo before Hozier croons the second. The pair's voices then unite on the chorus. "Something of love's enduring nature really comes through on 'The Bones,'" said Hozier. "It's a gorgeous song."
"The Bones" climbed to #1 on its 53rd week on the Country chart dated March 14, 2020. Only Dan + Shay's "
Tequila" took longer to climb to the summit, reaching peak position in its 54th week.
When this song topped the Country chart, Morris became the first solo woman to reach #1 on the survey since Kelsea Ballerini's "
Peter Pan" led three-and-a-half years previously.
"The Bones" spent 19 weeks at #1 before being unseated by Gabby Barrett's "
I Hope." It was the first time a female had replaced another femae at the summit in over nine years. On the tally dated May 28, 2011, Miranda Lambert's "
Heart Like Mine" dethroned Sara Evans' "
A Little Bit Stronger."
"The Bones" reached #1 on Billboard's Adult Pop Songs chart in it's 45th week on the tally. The track's ascent to the top position broke the record for the slowest climb to the summit, previously held by The Script's "
Breakeven." The Irish band's 2008 tune took 36 weeks to reach the peak position.
"The Bones" hit #1 in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained a big hit throughout lockdown. Speaking to Radio.com's Katie Neal in September 2020, Morris said she feels it resonated as it's more than just a love song.
"It's kind of amounted to being this really medicinal cry for hope in a time where it's a very unsteady and unpredictable time that we're in right now," she said. "I feel like the whole message of 'if the bones are good the rest doesn't matter' has applied to this year of 2020 being a complete mess."
Maren Morris performed the song at the 2020 CMA Awards, which took place at Music City Center in Nashville in front of a live, socially distanced audience. By the time Morris took the stage, "The Bones" had nabbed the singer both Single of the Year and Song of the Year prizes at the 2020 ceremony. She also took home the Female Vocalist of the Year trophy.
Morris became only the second woman in CMA history to win awards for both Single and Song of the Year for the same work. She followed Kimberly Perry, who, as one third of The Band Perry, shared the awards for Single of the Year for "
If I Die Young" and Song of the Year for co-writing the tune.
Morris performed "The Bones" with John Mayer at the Grammy Awards in 2021. It was nominated for Best Country Song, but lost to "
Crowded Table" by The Highwomen.
Maren Morris was a double winner at the 2021 ACM Awards. "The Bones" won Song of the Year and the singer also took home the Female Artist of the Year prize.
Many listeners made a connection to this song during the 2020 pandemic. "When everything shut down, it took on a worldly meaning," Morris explained when she performed the song with Hozier on CMT Crossroads in 2023. "A ton of fans had reached out and said, 'This feels like a cry for the world right now. Like we're in the homestretch of the hard times.' So it graduated beyond earthly love to something broader."
This song had a very fast turnaround. "I wrote my song 'The Bones' in about an hour,"
Morris told Billboard. "And then I think we had it recorded an hour later. So sometimes not all the time, you get a really fast ditty. And you thank the song gods when that happens."
Even after her split with Ryan Hurd, Morris kept "The Bones" in her setlists, as it's one of her most popular songs. Regarding the songs she wrote about him that no longer apply, Morris explained to People: "I don't really look back on them with shame or regret... It truly felt that way when I wrote it; it didn't work out in the long run, but the song still matters."
