"Homeboy" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released seven studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billb ...

. It was released in February 2011 as the ninth single of his career and the first from his 2011 album ''

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

''. The song reached the Top 20 on the U.S. ''

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chart with a peak at number 13. Church wrote this song with

Casey Beathard Casey Michael Beathard ( ; born December 2, 1965) is an American country music songwriter. The son of former National Football League general manager Bobby Beathard, and father of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback C. J. Beathard, and country mu ...

about his son

Tucker Beathard Tucker Russell Beathard ( ; born January 24, 1995) is an American country music singer and songwriter. A son of songwriter Casey Beathard, Beathard was signed to Dot Records, a subsidiary of Big Machine Records in 2015 where he released his deb ...

Content

In "Homeboy", the narrator addresses a delinquent brother who has taken to a destructive urban lifestyle. The lyrics play on the word "homeboy", turning it into a plea for his brother to "come on home, boy." Co-writer

came up with the song's idea after hearing his son say "come on, homeboy" to a friend. He made the song available as a free

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from his website between February 20 and 24, 2011, although it was not available from retailers until March 8.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' rated the song four stars out of five, calling it "relatable on many levels" and praising the "interesting musical accompaniment". He thought that the "loud guitars are sure to turn off some people", but believed that the song would appeal to fans of

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of countr ...

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...

. Stephen M. Deusner of ''Engine 145'' gave it a "thumbs down", describing it as something "actively, even aggressively bad to the point of insulting, both culturally and musically." He thought that the song stereotyped the urban lifestyle and that the production "topple over into self-parody".

Music video

The music video was directed by

Peter Zavadil Peter Zavadil is an American music video director who works primarily in the field of country music. He has directed many music videos since the late 1990s. He has won the Country Music Association Award for Video of the Year twice from seven nomi ...

and premiered in May 2011. It was filmed at the former

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Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where Church also filmed the video for "Lightning", an album track from his first album. In the video, the brother character is shown being pursued by police officers, jailed, and then leaving jail while realizing the effects of his decisions.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles 2011 songs Country ballads 2010s ballads Eric Church songs Songs written by Casey Beathard Songs written by Eric Church Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil EMI Records singles Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce