Eric Church Songs
Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Eric Church Shares Reason Behind Song, 'Why Not Me'

Eric Church wrote "Why Not Me" in response to the Las Vegas mass shooting at a country music festival in 2017 featuring Church, Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, and others.

Church talked specifically about why he showed up to his Grand Ole Opry performance following the tragedy. As the headliner on one night of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, he said that crowd — the shooting victims — were "my people." A friend sent him a video of a woman who lost her husband in the shooting. They went to the festival specifically to see Eric Church.

And they also had tickets to see him at the Grand Ole Opry that very night. "Over here, section three, row F," Church said. "There's some empty seats, and that's their seats," he said in reference to the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting. So he knew he had an obligation to play that night.

"The only way I've ever fixed anything that's been broken in me is with music," he told the crowd. Now, you can read the lyrics to the poignant tune. Using the very same audio from the Opry performance, Eric Church released a simple black and white lyric video. Watch it above.

"Why Not Me" Lyrics

Why you with your long brown hair flowing

And you with your fresh tattooed skin

And you from the Western Virginia

That you never get to see again

As darkness descended the desert

And a bad actor starred in his play

Why you from Tennessee did life capture?

And me, from Tennessee, get away?

And when the morning sun hit the mountain

And a glorious still calmed the breeze

I asked the God of all-knowing wisdom

Why you, and why not me?

Yeah the Lord is my refuge and my fortress

My God with whom I trust

But I'll never know why the wicked

Gets to prey on the best of us

Why you full of life and promise

At the top of your lungs so loud

My songs that you sing so sweetly

Will ring forever in my ears now

And when the morning sun hit the mountain

And a glorious still calmed the breeze

I asked the God of all-knowing wisdom

Why you, and why not me?

And every morning when the sun hits the mountain

And a glorious still calms the breeze

I'll ask the God of my salvation

Why you, and why not me?

Related: