Hippie Radio

Album: Desperate Man (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This acoustic meditation on the ways that music is there to mark different phases in your life was one of the first songs Church wrote for Desperate Man along with "The Snake." The two songs heralded the direction that Church wanted to take the new project – meaningful lyrics backed by a more laid back raw sound.

    "It was making my Spidey Sense go up," sad the singer. "It was different, soulful, a total left turn from what we had been doing. The coolness started to come in. Plus it was saying something, and that's what artists are supposed to do - give us guidance for where we are and where we're headed."
  • The song starts off as a love letter to the FM dial in the family's Pontiac as young Eric rides in the car with his father, listening to music.

    My daddy had a Pontiac on the beige-er side of yellow
    He was a young man then and I was a little fella
    I'd play in that bench back seat and listen to the songs get sung
    He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket but he'd sing at the top of his lungs


    Later in the song, the now 17 or 18-year-old Church has his own wheels. He pays nostalgic tribute to Billy Idol, Warren Zevon and other artists who formed the soundtrack when he was romancing girls in his own Pontiac.

    It was White Wedding and Rebel Yell on the hippie radio
    I was a Werewolf in London, and she was Lady Marmalade's soul
    And I'd crank the band, take her hand and we'd pull off back a road
    A boy and his girl in a Pontiac, and the hippie radio


    Eric Church previously sang the praises of rock music on the guitar-driven The Outsiders track "That's Damn Rock & Roll."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Bass Player Scott Edwards

Bass Player Scott EdwardsSong Writing

Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?