Maren Morris - Better Than We Found It

What this video is

Released October 2, 2020, at the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide surge of Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd, 'Better Than We Found It' represents a rare instance of mainstream country music engaging directly and unflinchingly with racial justice, immigration policy, and police brutality. Morris, then a new mother, framed the song as a protest track in the…

Why it matters

A landmark moment in 2020s country music activism, the video challenged genre norms by explicitly engaging with BLM and immigration politics. It earned Morris dual award nominations (ACM and CMA) for Music Video of the Year and demonstrated that documentary-hybrid production approaches could…

The director

Gabrielle Woodland is a Nashville- and Atlanta-rooted director, producer, and journalist, later based in Brooklyn, NY. She began her directing career with this video in October 2020. Her background spans journalism, documentary production, and branded…