Alex Warren‘s “Ordinary” is #1 for a ninth week on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is loaded with religious imagery, with lyrical references to holy water, angels, the Lord, sanctuary, heaven and hallelujah. Alex says it’s no coincidence that he used these metaphors to talk about love.
“Well, I’m a religious person. … My dad took us to Catholic school,” Alex tells ABC Audio. “I’m not Catholic anymore. I’m Christian. And I feel like it’s a way that I’m really close with my parents, now that they’re gone.”
Alex’s father died of cancer when Alex was 9 years old; his mother died in 2021.
“I feel I can talk to them and I feel there’s such a great relationship with me and God and things like that because of that,” he adds. “And so I grew with church music. I grew up with worship music.”
Alex says he was “heavily influenced” by worship music and also by one of his frequent co-writers, Mags Duval.
“She is also Christian and … in this new album, there’s Bible verses that we’ll use in our records,” he explains.
“I think it’s really important to kind of keep that part of me and tell my story,” Alex notes. “I like to incorporate it in my records but not make it too ‘Christian-y,’ just because I want everyone to be able to listen to my music and I want everyone to able to relate to it.”
Alex kicks off an extension of his Cheaper Than Therapy Tour on Aug. 9 in San Diego. He’ll spend most of August in Australia and New Zealand before returning to North America for more dates starting Sept. 10.
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