Give Me Back My Hometown

"Give Me Back My Hometown"
Single by Eric Church
from the album The Outsiders
Released	January 7, 2014 (2014-01-07)[1]
Recorded	2013
Genre	Country
Length	4:12
Label	EMI Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Eric Church Luke Laird[2]
Producer(s)	Jay Joyce
Eric Church singles chronology
"The Outsiders" (2013) "Give Me Back My Hometown" (2014) "Cold One" (2014)

"Give Me Back My Hometown" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Eric Church. It was released in January 2014 as the second single from his 2014 album The Outsiders. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart in May 2014. It also peaked at number 4 on Hot Country Songs. Church wrote this song with Luke Laird.

Content

"Give Me Back My Hometown" has a lyric reminiscing about a lost love from his high school, and the memories evoked when he revisits his hometown. During the chorus, Church sings "Give me back my hometown, 'cause this is my hometown." An uncredited review from Taste of Country compared the song to Church's previous song "Springsteen" and the title track of his 2009 album Carolina.^[3] The song is in the key of D-flat major with a main chord pattern of D♭-B♭m-G♭ and a moderate tempo.^[4]

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the single 4 out of 5 stars, saying that "Jay Joyce's production once again finds musically interesting things to do while Church earnestly sings about the loss of his hometown, not because it’s actually gone or changed but because the girl who helped it make it worthwhile has left him and the town back" and "for the middle of the road fan who likes the softer moments of Eric Church’s music…this one should easily be much more pleasing to them than "The Outsiders" was."^[5]

Commercial performance

Eric Church had his best debut on the chart when the song entered at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 39 on the Hot Country Songs during its first week, with 28,000 copies sold.^[1][6] The following week, the song climbed to No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 25 on Hot Country Songs. The song also topped the Country Digital Song chart with over 61,000 copies sold.^[7] The song then jumped to No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on its 14th week of release, and No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart on its 15th. As of June 2014, "Give Me Back My Hometown" has sold 758,000 copies in the United States.^[8]

The song also debuted at No. 61 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week and climbed to No. 30 the week after.

Music video

Peter Zavadil directed the accompanying music video for this song. According to The Boot, the video "features Church singing as an ominous story plays out, including a priest (Steven Michael Quezada)^[9] presiding over a roadside funeral in a rundown part of town."^[10]

In response to viewers' confusion over the meaning of the video's story, Church said that "[he] don't understand it either." It was later stated that the story would continue with the video for each single from the album.^[11]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12]	30
Canada Country (Billboard)[13]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[14]	36
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[15]	1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[16]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2014)	Position
Canada Canadian Hot 100[17]	94
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[18]	27
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[19]	15

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20]	Gold	40,000^*
United States (RIAA)[21]	2× Platinum	758,000[8]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Wade Jessen, Nashville (January 9, 2014). "Eric Church Logs Best Debut On Hot Country Songs". Billboard.
2. "Give Me Back My Hometown". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
3. "Eric Church, 'Give Me Back My Hometown' [Listen]". Taste of Country. January 3, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
4. "'Give Me Back My Hometown' sheet music". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
5. Bjorke, Matt (January 3, 2014). "Single Review: Eric Church — 'Give Me Back My Hometown'". Roughstock. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
6. Bjorke, Matt (January 15, 2013). "Country Chart News - The Top 30 Digital Singles - January 15, 2014: Luke Bryan, Lucy Hale, Eric Church, Cassadee Pope, Scotty McCreery". Roughstock. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014.
7. Conaway, Alanna (January 24, 2013). "Country Chart News - The Top 30 Digital Singles - January 22, 2014: Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell, Cassadee Pope, Scotty McCreery Tops". Roughstock. Archived from the original on January 26, 2014.
8. Roland, Tom (July 2, 2014). "Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Eric Church Lead SoundScan Mid-Year Country Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
9. Hansen, Dave J. (19 January 2014). "Video Breakdown: Eric Church's 'Give Me Back My Hometown'". Don't Pop The Music. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
10. Thompson, Gayle (January 18, 2014). "Eric Church Releases 'Give Me Back My Hometown' Video". The Boot. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
11. "Eric Church on New Video: 'I Don't Understand It Either'". The Boot. 29 January 2014.
12. "Eric Church Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
13. "Eric Church Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
14. "Eric Church Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
15. "Eric Church Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
16. "Eric Church Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
17. "Best of 2014: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
18. "Best of 2014: Country Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
19. "Best of 2014: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
20. "Canadian single certifications – Eric Church – Give Me Back My Hometown". Music Canada. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
21. "American single certifications – Eric Church – Give Me Back My Hometown". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 29, 2021.