Talladega (song)

"Talladega"
Single by Eric Church
from the album The Outsiders
Released	September 15, 2014
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2013–14
Genre	Country
Length	4:22
Label	EMI Nashville
Writer(s)	Eric Church Luke Laird
Producer(s)	Jay Joyce
Eric Church singles chronology
"Cold One" (2014) "Talladega" (2014) "Raise 'Em Up" (2015)

"Talladega" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Eric Church. It is the fourth single from his fourth studio album, The Outsiders. It was released to radio on September 15, 2014.^[1]

Background

The song is about a man sharing memories from a trip made to Talladega Superspeedway with friends after his senior year in high school.^[1] According to Church, the song was written and partially recorded on July 7, 2012, while he was on tour.^[1] It was later recorded with his band in Nashville for release on The Outsiders.^[1] Church took inspiration from watching a NASCAR race on television, but both he and co-writer Luke Laird said that the song is not about racing.^[1] Rather, Church said that the race and the song represents "that experience, whatever that is: the experience with the person next to you, and knowing that that’s probably a finite time in your life. It’s not gonna last forever."^[1]

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in December 2014.^[2] Despite its title, the video was not filmed at Talladega Superspeedway, but was filmed at Nashville Superspeedway.^[3]

Chart performance

"Talladega" debuted on the Country Digital Songs chart at No. 29, and Hot Country Songs at No. 41, with 14,000 sold when the album The Outsiders was released in February 2014.^[4] After the song was released as a single in September, it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 90 for the charted dated November 8, 2014. It peaked at No. 43 on the Hot 100 for the chart dated February 7, 2015, and at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart a week later. As of March 2015, the single has sold 534,000 copies in the United States.^[5]

Chart (2014–15)	Peak position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6]	51
Canada Country (Billboard)[7]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[8]	43
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[9]	1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10]	2

Year-end charts

Chart (2014)	Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[11]	93
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[12]	95

Chart (2015)	Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[13]	45
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[14]	41

References

1. "Eric Church’s ‘Talladega’ Circles A Defining Rite Of Passage" (PDF). Billboard. October 2, 2014. p. 2. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
2. "CMT : Videos : Eric Church : Talladega". Country Music Television. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
3. Cassidy, Julianne (December 27, 2014). "Eric Church rolls out 'Talladega' music video". Nashville Edge. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
4. Alanna Conaway (February 19, 2014). "Country Chart News – The Top 30 Digital Singles – Feb 12, 2014: Miranda Debuts, Brantley Gilbert #1, Cole Swindell Remains Hot". Roughstock.
5. Matt Bjorke (March 18, 2015). "Country Music’s Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of March 18, 2015". Roughstock. Sale figure given here
6. "Eric Church – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Eric Church.
7. "Eric Church – Chart history" Billboard Canada Country for Eric Church.
8. "Eric Church – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Eric Church.
9. "Eric Church – Chart history" Billboard Country Airplay for Eric Church.
10. "Eric Church – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Eric Church.
11. "Billboard Country Update for December 15, 2014" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 15, 2014. p. 17. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
12. "Best of 2014: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
13. "Best of 2015: Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
14. "Best of 2015: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.