Nostalgic, indeed.
I think many of us Eric Church fans would say that, even if “Springsteen” isn’t our all-time favorite Chief song, it’s up there as one of his biggest hits, and one of the most important song in his illustrious catalog. He released it as the third single from his breakout third studio album Chief, which itself was a huge turning point in his career, one that really launched him to the forefront of the mainstream country genre.
Written by Eric along with Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell, it’s become one of his signature songs, a fan-favorite, and I don’t think anyone would argue if you called it the biggest song of his entire career. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and has since been certified 7X Platinum by the RIAA. And believe it or not, Eric Church only has a handful of #1 hits.
It’s of course a tribute to one of Church’s musical heroes Bruce Springsteen, but also a coming of age tale of a teenage summertime romance. It provides a level of nostalgia that honestly can make it hard for me to listen to at times. It’s not even really a sad song, but there’s something about it that always transports me to a different place and time, in terms of the lyrics and the song itself, but also where I was in my own life the first time I heard it… a young teenager myself, at a similar point in life to what he talks about in the song.
And an artist on TikTok named Emmy Moyen recently shared a now-viral video of the song rewritten from a female’s perspective, which is really creative and well-done, describing how the girl might’ve felt hearing their song “Springsteen” so many years later, reminiscing on that young love:
“When I think about you,
I want back 17,
Riding shotgun in your jeep,
When you compared the stars to my eyes,
I’ll turn back on that melody,
If you wanna remake a memory,
Dancing in the dark on the radio that night,
Springsteen,
Oh, Springsteen”
It compliments the original so well, and obviously hearing that other point of view is really fun, especially for me as someone who loves that song deeply, and already has a special connection to it.
She did a beautiful job with it, and if you love the original as much as I do, you have to check out Emmy’s version… I don’t know if she has more she hasn’t shared yet, even a full song, or if she just wrote this verse, but either way, I love it:
“This is ‘Springsteen,’ but I wrote it back from the girl’s perspective.”
I think it’s safe to say Eric does too, because he (or someone on his team) reposted the video on his TikTok account:
@emmymoyenmusic Springsteen from the girl’s perspective 💛 #springsteen #ericchurch #rewrite #girlsperspective #countrymusic ♬ original sound – Emmy Moyen
Eric Church fans on who saw his repost seemed to feel the same way about Emmy’s song, saying it was emotional to hear this perspective and transported them back to a different place and time, similar to how they felt when they first heard Church’s original.
I don’t think you can get a higher compliment than that when it comes to something like this, and I’d love to hear more:
“We were 17 he has a jeep and this just hit.”
“Ok drop it now.”
“Eric Church reposted!! I love this!!”
“Suddenly I’m back in that jeep Cherokee”
“So you’re gonna record and release this right.”
“Full version PLEASE. YouTube this.”
“You have a BEAUTIFUL voice girl! Absolutely love this”
“Stop this was my daddy’s favorite”
“Need the full version!”
“Release this right now…”
“Oh just rip my heart out I guess.”
“Girl this is so good.”
“YOUR VOICE IS BEAUTIFUL.”
“This. this is insane???”
“WHAT DID TOU JUST DO TO ME.”
“I think this has the potential to absolutely send me into an emotional spiral almost as much as the original.”
“This just made me start crying. Thank you for this.”
“You just healed something in me lol”
I’ll have this stuck in my head for the rest of the day now…
“Springsteen”