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7 Eric Church Deep Cuts That Should Have Been Hit Singles
All hail the Chief.
Arguably the most influential country artist of the 21st century, the Chief has a long history of delivering some of the most captivating work in the genre since his debut in 2006. From his experimental new release, Evangeline vs. The Machine, to his magnum opus, Mr. Misunderstood, in 2015, Church has proven time and time again that there truly isn’t anyone who can match him, especially in the mainstream.
When talking about Church, it’s hard to even point to where he peaks. From his smash hits such as the 8x platinum, “Springsteen,” “Record Year” and “Drink In My Hand” to his severely underrated deep cuts like “Lightning,” “Knives of New Orleans,” and “Those I’ve Loved,” his discography is filled top-to-bottom with some of the most introspective songwriting that has been released over the past two decades. And just for clarity, a “deep cut” is a song that wasn’t a radio single or big hit. It’s a song you’re only gonna hear if you’ve dug into the full album, and in some cases, a “deep cut” won’t even get played live very often. It has nothing to do with the content of the lyrics. Anytime we write about “deep cuts,” there seems to be a lot of chirping in the comments about what that means. There really isn’t any ambiguity… the definition is agreed upon.
Despite being recognized as one of the best and most influential country artists of the 21st century, the “Springsteen” singer only has seven solo #1 hits on both of Billboard’s country charts (Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay). It should be noted that he has 11 in total if you count his four collaborative #1 singles: “The Only Way I Know” with Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, “Raise ‘Em Up” with Keith Urban, “Does To Me” with Luke Combs and most recently, “Man Made A Bar” with Morgan Wallen.
Even if you boost the total with collaborations, it still feels shockingly low for an artist of Church’s stature. Of course, you can chalk most of it up to him not playing the radio game, focusing on albums over singles and generally doing whatever he wants artistically, but it still makes you think about which songs could have had a chance to be big hits that weren’t released as singles.
We’ve already looked at songs that were released but shockingly did not go #1, as well as his unreleased collection that contains some hidden gems that never saw the light of day. Today, we’ll be looking at some deep cuts that, looking back, feel like they had #1 hit written all over them.
1. “Where She Told Me to Go”
Album: Carolina (2009)
Looking back at Church’s discography, I always find myself coming back to this one. Despite how diverse and all-encompassing his discography is, “Where She Told Me to Go” stands out as one of his best and most straightforward heartbreakers. Perfectly encapsulating the devastation that comes with heartbreak, Church simultaneously makes you feel empathetic towards him despite clearly taking blame for the breakup.
“I was going with my change of heart
And wanted no part of forever
I was looking for a blessing
When I said baby, it’s all for the better
Yeah what do you know, I think I wound up
Where she told me to go
It’s an incredibly relatable feeling that a lot of people have experienced at least once in their lives. Couple that with some incredibly traditional production (for Church’s standards) and you have a track that could have done well on radio upon its release back in 2009.
2. “Hippie Radio”
Album: Desperate Man (2018)
There was a time back in the 2010s and early 2020s when building a song all around iconic tracks was all the rage. While some did it better than others, Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” comes to mind; you had a lot of cringe-inducers such as Old Dominion’s “Song For Another Time,” Thomas Rhett’s “What’s Your Country Song” and Walker Hayes’ “90’s Country.”
In typical Church fashion, he elevates this trope tenfold. Instead of simply vomiting out as many classic songs as he heard on the titular hippie radio, he crafts a narrative of how classic tracks such as “Carry On My Wayward Son,” “Rebel Yell” and “Cat’s In The Cradle” have impacted him at different times in his life.
Going on a journey from childhood in his father’s Pontiac to his first love to becoming a father, “Hippie Radio” is an expertly crafted journey through Church’s life that should have been pushed for radio play.
3. “Knives of New Orleans”
Album: Mr. Misunderstood (2015)
In my opinion, there’s no better genre of song in country music than the classic murder ballad. From Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” to Reba McEntire’s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” there has been a fair share of murder ballads that have done well at radio. In this case, I think “Knives of New Orleans” could have done the same.
Though many point to “Lightning” as Church’s best murder ballad, “Knives of New Orleans” arguably does it better. What sets it apart from many other murder ballads is that Church never details what he did. He never explicitly states who he killed or how he did it; he simply leaves it up to the listeners’ imagination, making it even more terrifying as he wails, “I did what I did,” in the outro.
4. “What I Almost Was”
Album: Sinners Like Me (2006)
Coming-of-age stories have always been hits in nearly every medium of art and entertainment. “What I Almost Was,” which serves as a bit of a biography for Church, serves as a stellar one. Detailing the fact that he had dreams of playing football before injuring his knee and almost took an office job at his ex-girlfriend’s father’s company before making the decision to move to Nashville to pursue music, it’s an incredibly personal reflection on his life.
With that being said, however, the central theme of being thankful for past decisions that may have looked like mistakes and reflecting on where they led you to is a sentiment that many can relate to and further champion.
5. “Russian Roulette”
Album: Heart (2021)
“Russian Roulette” was always envisioned to be a single off his first installment of the 2021 triple album, Heart & Soul. There was only one catch: the word Russian.
Just a day before he was planning on releasing the track to radio, Russia invaded Ukraine, and if you can remember, at the time, stores were pulling Russian vodka and anything associated with Russia from their shelves, bars were renaming “White Russians,” and pretty much the entire world (for the most part) was condemning Russia and their attack. All of a sudden, anything that mentioned Russia was off limits – and Church had to pull the song.
This recently came to light this past October at a show in Grand Rapids, where he recalled his disappointment at not being able to send the song to radio:
“This next song we’ve not done on this tour. It was my favorite song off the Heart project, ‘Heart & Soul.’ It was going to be a radio single, I think it’s a hit. And the night before we were going to release it, THE night before, Russia invaded Ukraine, and all of a sudden, anything that had Russia in it was not awesome. So I always send this out to Vladimir. He can f–king spin on it.”
Incredibly understandable, but it’s a shame the track never got its shot, given it had #1 hit written all over it.
6. “You Make It Look So Easy”
Album: Carolina (2009)
Though Church is no stranger to love songs, with tracks like “Like Jesus Does” and “Love Your Love The Most,” “You Make It Look So Easy” has always stood out as his most poignant and earnest. A track that has “first dance” written all over it due to the Chief’s honesty and reference he has for his wife, it’s a bit surprising that this song wasn’t pushed to radio.
Country radio has clearly never shied away from embracing love songs, especially when they’re as open as this one, and it’s always felt like a missed opportunity not to promote this one as such.
7. “Lovin’ Me Anyway”
Album: N/A
The fact that “Lovin’ Me Anyway” never got an official release will always be a head-scratcher to me. Easily being one of the most radio-friendly and overall fun songs in his discography, it’s one of those songs that simply had “#1 hit” written all over it.
As it turns out, “Lovin’ Me Anyway” was originally intended to be on Church’s breakthrough 2011 record, Chief, but instead was scrapped and became a free reward/bonus track for those who promoted the album on Facebook. Though the Facebook post is still up, the link to download the track is currently dead.
Luckily, there’s still a YouTube video up with the song available today.
The post 7 Eric Church Deep Cuts That Should Have Been Hit Singles first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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