Eric Church’s ‘Crazyland’ Came to Him in a Dream [Listen]
Eric Church's "Crazyland" introduces a dive bar full of characters — emotions, actually, just waiting for the right time to emerge. The country superstar dropped the new track, from his forthcoming seventh studio album, on Friday (Aug. 28).
In "Crazyland," there's a newcomer to this bar. The brokenhearted individual is being introduced to the rest of the crew — sad, regret, fool, lost and so on — by someone who goes by the Mad Hatter. "We all just hang out and listen to Blues / Sing his songs ’cause there’s nothing else to do," explains the mysterious tour guide.
“Crazyland / Since you said goodbye, it’s been crazy, man / Lunatics, liars and also-rans / Waiting on her leaving to come back again," Church sings. "Here in Crazyland / Talking to yourself is the only plan / Giving up on your last give a damn / Here in Crazyland.”
Church co-wrote "Crazyland" with Luke Laird and Michael Heeney. According to Church, the song came to him in a dream, during a January writing and recording retreat. During that month, the singer and his band recorded 28 songs over 28 days, at an old restaurant in the mountains of North Carolina that they turned into a studio for the occasion.
"I actually dreamed the chorus of the song, and I woke up ... and I wrote it down, and then I ended up writing the rest of the song to the chorus," Church explains. "I guess when you get to a creative point, you get in the groove like that ... I was crazy at the time, so, you know," he adds with a chuckle.
The sessions kept the singer and his crew up late; in fact, Church admits, they had to take a couple days off at one point because he'd stayed up for four straight days, unable to unwind and sleep. ("I think the word's manic," he says of that stretch of time.)
Previously, the superstar has teased that his four weeks of recording yielded enough material for a double album, at least. He and his team are "still working on" final plans, but, he says, fans will get to hear the entire session "in some form."
Church's next record will be his first since 2018's Desperate Man. Its first single is "Stick That in Your Country Song," but fans have also been able to hear "Bad Mother Trucker," "Through My Ray Bans," "Never Break Heart" and "Jenny."
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