"Somebody Said a Prayer" is a song written by

Neil Thrasher Joe Neil Thrasher Jr. (born July 13, 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1995 and 1997, he and Kelly Shiver comprised the duo Thrasher Shiver, which recorded a studio album for Asylum Records in 1996 and charted ...

and

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesn ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

. It was released in August 2008 as the first single from the album '' Back to Tennessee''. The song first charted on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart at number 53 for the chart week of August 16, 2008. "Somebody Said a Prayer" was also made into a music video with a cameo from Cyrus' son, Trace Cyrus.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo detailing two people — a mother in the first verse, and a teenager in the second verse — both of whom are dealing with stress in their lives. The mother in the first verse "almost let her job, her kids, her mind, her life go up in smoke" and the teen-ager attempted

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by taking a bottle of pills. Both characters, however, find their lives improved (the mother is now "laughin' and lovin' and content", and the teenager is now seen every week by the narrator). According to the chorus, the two characters' lives were improved because of prayer. The song features backing from a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and a

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

Critical reception

Roughstock.com described the song favorably, saying "'Somebody Said a Prayer' finds Cyrus soaring vocally while the layered production backs him up. Fans of softer country production may not like the 'bombastic' elements of this song all that much because it seems as if it is overshadowing or ompeting withBilly Ray but it's a technique that's been used in pop/ Christian markets for ages… The lyrics are heartfelt and are right on par… If Billy Ray Cyrus was looking at sustaining his music career with 'Somebody Said A Prayer', Billy Ray has certainly delivered a song that will do just that."

Music video

The music video for "Somebody Said a Prayer" first premiered in September 2008. The video was directed by award-winning director, Roman White. It also has a cameo from Cyrus' son,

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

lead-singer, Trace Cyrus. The video focuses around a grieving widow, her teenaged son, and her little girl, who are crushed by the death of her husband. Her little boy walks through the house to his room, after seeing his mother and siblings distraught, and kneels beside his bed to say a prayer. The prayer lifts the spirits of his family, and they join him in his room. In September 2009, the video was nominated for the Gospel Music Channel's Music Video Awards.

Chart performance

"Somebody Said a Prayer" debuted at number 53 on the ''Billboard''

chart. In September 2008, the song become Cyrus' fifteenth Top 40 single on the country charts. It reached a peak of number 33 on the week of November 15, 2008, giving Cyrus his first solo Top 40 single since "You Won't Be Lonely" reached number 17 in 2000.

References

{{Billy Ray Cyrus singles 2008 singles 2008 songs Billy Ray Cyrus songs Country ballads Songs written by Neil Thrasher Songs written by Craig Wiseman Music videos directed by Roman White Lyric Street Records singles Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer)