In a defiant spoken-word recording, Eric Church celebrates the human spirit and promises that the coronavirus pandemic will be defeated, while also hinting at a new song on the horizon, “Through My Ray Bans.”
“Where there once were roars, now there are just echoes. The handshakes and the hugs of yore are now too dangerous,” Church says over a montage of audience members at his shows. “But I don’t believe in fear. I don’t believe in panic. I don’t believe, in all its complexity, this damn virus has any idea what it’s up against: the American resolve.”
By the end of the video, he’s ratcheted up the emotion, preaching faith that fans will gather once again and prove that the “best is yet to come. We shall rage. We shall roar. I cannot wait to see you again — through my Ray Bans,” he says, as a new song with a message of community and solidarity swells behind him.
“Everybody’s got their arms around everybody else’s shoulders, guarding against the world outside like an army of Friday night soldiers,” he sings. “The battle wages tomorrow, but tonight we’ve got a drink in our hands/wish you could stay the way I see you through my Ray-Bans.” Church’s signature stage look is a pair of Ray-Ban aviators.
Church recently debuted another new song, “Never Break Heart,” at the ACM Presents: Our Country special and revealed he finished a new album, the follow-up to 2018’s Desperate Man, during a remote recording session in North Carolina.
