The story behind the song.
Today, Eric Church released the first song from his upcoming album Evangeline vs. The Machine, which is called ‘Hands Of Time,’ and it definitely has that signature Eric Church production, and if you listen closely, you’ll also hear the lovely Joanna Cotten on background vocals, which I love.
She announced a little while ago that she would be taking a break from the road and his band in general, but I’m glad that she’s at least been in the studio for this new music to lend her incredible voice.
The song itself is all too relatable in terms of Eric turning to music that he loved when he was younger to help him return to a moment in time, a memory in his own life, with the songs serving as anchors that help him “handle the hands of time.” He references tons of classics like Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights,” Tom Petty’s “Even the Losers,” AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and more, as well as country classics like Waylon and Willie’s “Luckenbach, Texas” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” that helped shape him.
While I absolutely hated this line and stopped listening the first time around (please see THIS post for more):
“My go-to game day jersey’s always Carolina blue”
The rest of the song goes hard, though I’ll admit I will have a hard time listening to it, but I digress…
In a new post on Instagram, Chief shared the story behind the song and what inspired him, saying the classics from his youth are what still make him feel young when he turns it up and gets lost in the song, and if that’s not something we can all probably understand, I don’t know what is:
“‘Hands Of Time’ is interesting, because I feel like as I get older, I’m looking for things that make me feel not as old. And for ‘Hands Of Time,’ I mean, I really do, I can honestly say that when I hear music or a movie or something, those things, when I see something from my past, I feel like I did then.
I relate to what it was then, and you know, there’s a line in the song that says, ‘How do you handle the hands of time?’ And I really believe that a really good way to handle that is with music, and with Seger, and with ‘Hollywood Nights’ and every line of the song.
But I think that’s a way that I handle it, and I think it was an interesting concept from a writing standpoint, to come in and handle it that way. And I think it’s pretty good advice for people as they age to find things that make them feel younger and that’s what this song is about.”
Here’s the full video:
The full Evangeline vs. The Machine album is due out everywhere on May 2nd, and consists of eight tracks in total. Eric already released “Darkest Hour” last year in the wake of Hurricane Helene to help his home state of North Carolina, and we might get one more if we’re lucky before the full project comes out.
If you’re not from the great State of North Carolina (or if your a Tar Holes fan), you’ll probably love every bit of it… if you’re someone who bleeds black and gold like me, you’ll love almost all of it.
In all seriousness, it’s been years since Eric released his Heart & Soul triple album of sorts, so I’m excited to hear all of the new music and I know all my fellow Eric Church fans are too.
“Hands Of Time”
Evangeline vs. The Machine Tracklist:
1. Hands Of Time (Eric Church, Scooter Carusoe)
2. Bleed On Paper (Tucker Beathard, Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell)
3. Johnny (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Brett Warren)
4. Storm In Their Blood (Eric Church)
5. Darkest Hour (Eric Church)
6. Evangeline (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Barry Dean)
7. Rocket’s White Lincoln (Eric Church)
8. Clap Hands (Tom Waits)
“Darkest Hour”