Eric Church Addresses Real-Life Dangers on New Song ‘Monsters’

As the father of two young boys, Eric Church has had to do his share of monster checks before bedtime. He uses that paternal responsibility to frame his new song “Monsters,” the latest release off his upcoming album Desperate Man.

Written by Church with bandmate Jeff Hyde (who released the excellent solo album Norman Rockwell World in February), “Monsters” finds Church warning against real-life dangers, not imaginary ones. “The wolf hunts a hungry man and the devil a lonely heart / A minefield of bad decisions lay hidin’ in the dark,” he sings in a verse, before driving home his point in the chorus: “I’ve learned that the monsters ain’t the ones beneath the bed.”

“Monsters” is the third full song to be released from Desperate Man, along with the title track and “Heart Like a Wheel.” Church will unveil the entire album on October 5th, a record that builds on the loose, sometimes funky nature of 2015’s Mr. Misunderstood.

“We’ve had a lot of hit songs. But I hope ‘different’ is a word for me,” Church told Rolling Stone in a candid cover-story interview in July. “If you look at our writing and what we’ve recorded, I hope people go, ‘Man, that guy did it his own way.’ ”