Forever Country: Josh Turner Channels Randy Travis for ‘Three Wooden Crosses’

In anticipation of the CMA Awards' 50th birthday this November, the famed association has been pairing up contemporary artists with traditional country songs to bring the genre's fans some impressive covers in a series called the Forever Country Cover Series. In this installment, Josh Turner covers the Randy Travis classic, "Three Wooden Crosses."

Turner has never been shy about his Christian beliefs, so this rendition makes perfect sense for him. His deep tone, accompanied by three backup guitars, brings the song a modern sound while staying in tune with the track's message.

The song tells the tale of four bus passengers, a farmer, a teacher, a preacher and a hooker, all of whom are in a fatal accident in which three of them die. At the end of the tune we learn that the hooker survived and the point of view is from her son, a preacher, using the story in a sermon after his former-prostitute mother changed her ways and found Jesus following the accident.

"There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway / Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows / I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you / It's what you leave behind you when you go," Turner sings.

"Three Wooden Crosses" was released in 2002 and was featured on Travis' Rise and Shine album. It rose all the way to the top of the country charts and served as his final No. 1 hit. The track also scored him the 2003 CMA Award for Song of the Year.

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