'Johnny' by Eric Church – Lyrics & Meaning

Eric Church has never been one to shy away from life's darker, harsher topics in his music, and that sentiment is alive and well with his 2025 song, 'Johnny.'

Included on his long-awaited, 8-track record, Evangeline vs. The Machine, Church first played the stirring tune live during CRS 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. Taking the Ryman stage alone with only his acoustic guitar, he delivered an unforgettable performance of the morose ballad, a chilling choir joining in halfway through.

From the first time we heard the song, we knew it was going to be a special one, and now 'Johnny' is available for all to hear on the new album, offering a haunting portrait of our modern world and calling back to one of the country music greats, too.

Written by Church alongside Luke Laird & Brett Warren, 'Johnny' is an intensely cinematic and theatric offering on the Jay Joyce-produced album.

Starting with an oddly bright tone to the downtrodden track, an acoustic guitar and hollow beat sustains the first verse and chorus before a choir joins in to bolster the dramatics of the tune.

At times a very busy sonic landscape, Church's emotive and compelling vocal delivery manages to center the entire production as fiddle screeches float around throughout, paying homage to Charlie Daniels' 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' which plays a critical role in the song's lyrics.

“I was thinking to myself this morning
Watching my boys play
Of how different my life was when I was their age
Now machines control the people
And the people shoot at kids
I shutter to think about what the next thing is"

Contemplating his own life as he watches his young sons innocently playing in the backyard, Church is forced to reckon with just how much the world has changed in just the course of his own life.

Underlining the implementation of so much technology–namely AI–in our everyday lives, he also touches on the central issue of gun control in the US, drawing attention to the overwhelming and growing number of school shootings happening all around the country every year.

With all of this in mind, Church finds it hard to consider what the next catastrophic thing might be and what could be around the corner for his children to have to live through.

“Yeah Johnny, oh Johnny
Where did you go
The devil’s broke out of Georgia
And he’s feasting on our souls
There’s fire on the mountain
And the flames are closing in
So run, get your fiddle bow
And send him to hell again
Yeah, back to hell again"

Calling out to the protagonist from Charlie Daniels' iconic 1979 hit, 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' Church cries out asking where the young savior went after defeating the devil all those years ago.

Giving Johnny an update on what he's missed and emphasizing why he needs to return to finish his mission, our narrator explains that the devil has extended his reach far beyond just the state lines of Georgia now and is running rampant all over the world.

Pleading with him to pick up his fiddle once again to face down the evil forces at work all around us, Church asks Johnny to send the devil back to hell and restore peace on earth.

“Yeah, I know redemption cometh
It’s taking way too long
Can’t you see it in our faces
Can’t you hear it in our songs
Yeah, we’re holding on to hope
But we’re hanging by a thread
Won’t you put on your rattlesnake boot
And crush that serpent’s head"

Explaining to us, and probably to himself, that he's still holding on to his faith and he knows that a savior and redemption of some sort will eventually find its way, Church is also keenly aware that it's taking too long and we're wasting time waiting.

While we're sitting here trying to hold onto hope that things will get better and good will eventually beat out evil, he notes that we're all running low and need change to come soon.

Maybe Johnny could be that change.

"Yeah Johnny, oh Johnny
Where did you go
The devil’s broke out of Georgia
And he’s feasting on our souls
There’s fire on the mountain
And the flames are closing in
So run, get your fiddle bow
And send him to hell again
Yeah, back to hell again"

During CRS 2025, before playing 'Johnny' live for the very first time, Church shared with the packed audience what brought the song on and how deeply it effected him.

“About a year ago, we had a shooting here in Nashville at the Covenant School. Where my kids go to school–my two boys–is about a mile from that school," he offered, fighting back emotion. "I will tell you something, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life–parent or otherwise–was drop them off at that school the day after the shooting and watching them walk inside."

Bringing us into that moment with him, Church added: "I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it, as I was pulling out, Charlie Daniels was playing, ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ I remember thinking, 'Man, we could use Johnny right now, because the Devil’s not in Georgia, he’s everywhere.'”

I was thinking to myself this morning
Watching my boys play
Of how different my life was when I was their age
Now machines control the people
And the people shoot at kids
I shutter to think about what the next thing is

Yeah Johnny, oh Johnny
Where did you go
The devil’s broke out of Georgia
And he’s feasting on our souls
There’s fire on the mountain
And the flames are closing in
So run, get your fiddle bow
And send him to hell again
Yeah, back to hell again

Yeah, I know redemption cometh
It’s taking way too long
Can’t you see it in our faces
Can’t you hear it in our songs
Yeah, we’re holding on to hope
But we’re hanging by a thread
Won’t you put on your rattlesnake boot
And crush that serpent’s head

Yeah Johnny, oh Johnny
Where did you go
The devil’s broke out of Georgia
And he’s feasting on our souls
There’s fire on the mountain
And the flames are closing in
So run, get your fiddle bow
And send him to hell again
Yeah, back to hell again

There’s chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out bits
Granny does your dog bite these days, yes
Child yes
There’s fire on the mountain
And the flames are closing in
So run, get your fiddle bow
And send him to hell again
Yeah, back to hell again

Back to hell again
There’s fire on the mountain

There’s fire on the mountain, run boys run
Yeah, the devil’s in the house with the rising sun

––

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