Eric Church, ‘Drink in My Hand’ – Song Review
The next single from Eric Church's 'Chief' album is as close as the singer has gotten to bringing his explosive live show to the radio. 'Drink in My Hand' is unrelenting, rowdy and fun without becoming offensive. It should easily become the most successful song of the singer's three album career.
The secret to the song is that beneath the beer soaked T-shirt, Church has written extraordinarily vivid lyrics. Often times a singer's "party song" is as big and dumb as one can imagine when under the influence of a few shots of whiskey. Church tells a much more dynamic story while giving every listener a verse to relate to.
The working man's verse is first, and the 'Homeboy' singer slings this memorable lyric: "Bossman can shove that overtime / Up his can / All I wanna do is put a drink in my hand." The second verse is for the Friday night crowd, with both driving seamlessly into the chorus.
"Filling it up / Or throwing down / When you drive me home / Take the long way around / You be my Lois Lane, I'll be your Superman / All you got to do is put a drink in my hand," he sings. Each time through the chorus, the singer tweaks the lyric to reflect the verse.
The softer third verse speaks to women. It's not so much its subject, but the way he phrases words like 'peek-e-bo0.' "Make me wanna go ooo, ooo, ooo / When you dance like that / You got that little tattoo playing peek-e-boo on your back / Yeah if you wanna impress me / Baby here's my plan / All you gotta do is put a drink in my hand."
Church is basking in the attention of a huge debut week with 'Chief,' but the wrong second single from an album can halt momentum faster than a brick wall. 'Drink in My Hand' is the perfect song at the perfect time for a singer who's poised to have a very, very big year.
Listen Eric Church, 'Drink in My Hand'