Tuesday, November 6, 2007 – "Lightning" may not be the next single from Eric Church, but it will be his new video. And in doing so, Church will be addressing the death penalty from the perspective of a condemned man.
The video, filmed at the old Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville, makes its world broadcast debut on CMT this Thursday, Nov. 8, debuting in heavy rotation on the network and on CMT Pure, their digital music channel.
Church and Capitol Records Nashville created a music video for this album track that will not be released as a radio single. Both artist and label felt the song deserved a special platform - and so the idea of creating a video to showcase the song became a reality.
"Bringing life to issues, or even just bringing an issue forward, the kind of subjects that people sit down at dinner and talk about - the topics that most people would never sit down and write a song about . . . those are my favorite things to write about," said Church.
"As a songwriter, I'm proud of the fact that this song, and many of the songs that I write, speak to real life," Church said. "Crime, murder, unemployment - some of the elements in 'Lightning' - these are real situations. We face these things as a society every day."
"This is one of those topics that there will always be disagreements on, and that's okay. That's what I do - make people think, make people talk," added Church.
"Am I for or against the death penalty? My answer is 'both,'" said Church. "To me, it's not a black or white issue. It never will be."
"If you've had a chance to listen to the 'Sinners Like Me' album, you'll hear that there are a lot of sides to Eric Church," Cindy Mabe, vice president of marketing at Capitol Records Nashville, said. "'Lightning' is the song that got Eric his publishing deal and ultimately his record deal. It represents everything that makes Eric unique...his ability to hold you in the palm of his hands with a story that will bring you to tears, and make you feel empathy for a man that's going to the electric chair. That's a gift, that's what separates Eric from many other artists - and is ultimately why we've decided to create a video for a song that will not be a radio single."
"Video has the ability to translate differently than radio," Mabe added. "We want people to watch this video and feel the pain and the regret of this man who has committed this horrendous crime and yet, somewhere inside of themselves, understand how they could end up in the same place."
